A Tale of Two Families
by SpinnetTops
Summary: The Cullens and Hales are high school enemies and each have their own set of followers. When Bella arrives at Forks, she must decide where she fits in. Will Edward win her over, or will Jasper put up a fight? NOT Edward/Jasper slash.
1. Preface

_Hope you enjoy this chapter. I've been really excited about this idea, and it's the first time I've ever written ahead, so let me know what you think, please._

**Preface**

In a high school as small as the one in Forks, there were a few general rules that every student learned and began to follow within the first month of the school year. First, never sit at the front of Mr. Mason's English class, unless you prefer to hear the classics read accompanied by a saliva shower. Second, for the female students, if you are wearing a dress or skirt, try to avoid the second floor water fountain beside the boys' bathroom as spectators tend to gather there; for the male students, if you have a girlfriend, make sure adheres to that particular guideline. Next, never, ever eat the fish that is served in the cafeteria. Just don't. If it is sunny, sit outside. Enjoy the sunshine while it lasts, or it will only disappear faster.

The final rule, and the most important, is the one which dictates every social gathering a particular person attends, the side of the cafeteria they sit on and the people they sit with at lunch. Since they both attended Forks High School, the Hales and the Cullens have been sworn enemies. It has always been that way, and will be that way for the entirety of their senior year. The rule is: Pick a side. Stick to that side. Then, you may just make it out alive.

Throughout junior high, the Hale twins, with their premature beauty, elegance and unwavering intelligence, had the best of everything. Raised with the good graces and manners that were used to much older times, they charmed every teacher and peer alike. As they moved through their youth none of their admirable qualities diminished, and, if any one had before thought it impossible, their beauty only increased exponentially with their age.

Rosalie reigned amongst the girls, and she was more than aware of it. Her subjects saw her as the perfect specimen of a female, even before she developed fully. On many occasions, a poor, hopeful girl would try to recreate the perfect wave and luminous blonde of Rosalie's hair, she would layer on thick foundation to imitate her flawless complexion, buy a push-up bra in an attempt to gain Rosalie's perfect and curvy physique or bleach her teeth to the extent that they were painful to look at in chance that her smile would rival that of Rosalie's. Eventually, in her senior of junior high and to the dismay of a majority of the student body, she chose Emmett McCarty, the tall, muscular, curly haired and dimpled jock, as her lucky suitor. What started as a tutoring project developed into the steady relationship that seemed perfect to all who witnessed its growth. They were both young, and Emmett, who was smarter than most people gave him credit for, used this reputation to his advantage and pleaded with Rosalie to help him improve his math and science grades. The rest, at least to the younger and more impressionable residents in Forks, is history.

However, every queen needs a king to help her maintain rule, and Rosalie's counterpart was her twin brother, Jasper. Matching her in almost every way, looks, brains and popularity, Jasper was the noticeably more reserved of the pair. While Rosalie worked actively to enchant everyone around her, to most observers it seemed that Jasper had the spotlight thrust upon him. But to those who knew him well enough, and they were few and far, it was clear that Jasper enjoyed the attention just as much as his sister, if not more so.

When Rosalie settled down with Emmett (with Jasper's approval, of course) Jasper took advantage of his high status in the hierarchy of the school and by the time he entered high school his track record with girls was already impressive. With the teachers, he was the favorite Hale twin, often producing a standard of work far beyond what was necessary and doing everything he could to get himself ahead. He was insightful, thoughtful and definitely more tactical than his sister. This was why, to his classmates, he appeared deceptively shy.

Rosalie was the crowd pleaser; Jasper was the observer. Together, they made the perfect team. This was why, until the beginning of their sophomore year of high school, they remained unrivaled, even against their upper class-men. It was in that summer when the Cullens moved to Forks.

Adopted brother and sister, Edward and Alice Cullen entered high school with no expectations, and certainly no enthusiasm. Their reputation preceded them, as reputations usually do with newcomers being so rare in Forks, and once the more ridiculous rumours had been weeded out, a short biography of the Cullens had life circulated the town. Despite being born in America, the Cullen family had traveled all over Europe throughout their younger teenage years, but now their mother wanted to settle down to a quieter life close to where she grew up. Dr. Cullen had applied to a position at the local hospital and apparently they had bought a house just outside the town limits. If Dr. Cullen's qualifications and job history were anything to go by, then the family were very well off.

A mixture of excitement and fear surrounded the arrival of this new family. Given their past, Edward and Alice were something new, and terrifyingly unknown, to the students at Forks. They had lived far beyond the confines of the small town life that most of Fork's natives never dreamed of crossing and no one knew what to expect from the pair of 15 year olds who had spent the majority of their adolescent years in Paris, London and Milan.

As could only be expected, intertwined with the generic facts were the unlikely and the fabricated. If hearsay was to be believed, then Alice Cullen had walked in countless couture fashion shows, inspired the work of many an artist and had danced danced prima ballerina with the Mariinsky Ballet. Her brother's list of achievements were not quite as impressive as her own: Edward had only passed through high school three times as fast as a regular student, rejected places offered to him by every Ivy league college and performed in one of his father's open heart surgeries. In short, the Edward Cullen Forks was expecting was a child genius.

Typically, while absorbing all of this information, Jasper Hale was assessing the potential threat the new students would pose against Rosalie's and his position of power. With all of her usual confidence, Rosalie casually dismissed each of the rumours as untrue. Even if the boy was exceptionally smart, there was no reason why he wouldn't just blend in with the brainiacs of the school. As for Alice, Rosalie knew enough of fashion to be sure that no one by that name had ever walked in the show of any designer, couture or not. Just as they always did, the Hales would welcome the new students, charming them in the same way that always won people over. She was absolutely sure of it, and there was no reason for Jasper to believe differently: The Cullens would not be a problem.

She was very, very wrong.

Trouble began from the very first day they set foot in the car park. Pulling up in a sleek, sliver Volvo- obviously the stories of their wealth were accurate- it was hard not to notice that it was the only car that rivaled the Rosalie's cherry red convertible, which was in bad need of repair. Windows were rolled down and people hovered on their tip-toes in order to catch a better look at the beautiful automobile. It, however, was no match for the two people who slid gracefully from the two front seats.

They were breathtaking. Strikingly dark and with overall more delicate features, they were, superficially and essentially, the antithesis of the Hales, but even from this first glance it was undeniable that they were every bit a beautiful. Many people stopped and stared, unabashedly open mouthed. This did not go unnoticed by the Hales, and, in what was one of the turning events in High School, Rosalie marched up to the newcomers with Jasper at her heels to introduce herself: Undoubtedly her intent was to make it perfectly clear to the Cullens exactly who was in charge at Forks High School, and to prove to the student body that the Hale twins were still the most beautiful.

When recounting this infamous meeting most people would credit Rosalie with her confidence and bravery; others would laugh at the outcome. To see these equally beautiful women standing face to face was a strange sight at first. Although, to say 'face to face' would not be entirely accurate, as Rosalie stood head and shoulders above the positively tiny Alice Cullen. Her straight up and down figure looked like one of a gymnast or dancer, complete with the stunted growth.

Compared to Roaslie's flowing golden waves, Alice's short, black bob looked almost boyish, but this was of no detriment to her beauty and it only served to highlight her angular features. For the innocent, and ordinary bystanders it was hard to believe that two women this beautiful existed at all, let alone in the small population of Forks High School. Too overwhelmed by the concentration of beauty in such a small space, no one could focus enough on what was being said to know what passed between the girls, but suddenly Rosalie's eyes tightened and she dropped her hand. She placed the hand on her hip and shook out her hair, both recognizable signs that Rosalie was not pleased with what she had heard. Knowing what was following would make any other girl cower, but Alice did not move at all. In fact, it was unnerving how still she kept under Rosalie's glare, and her delicate face remained unchanged, save the slight raising of one of her eyebrows.

Throughout this confrontation the male members of the group had been staring silently at each other, as though trying to suss out whether or not the other one was a threat to them, without actually acknowledging it. Like Rosalie had been to Alice, Jasper was taller that Edward, but only by a couple of inches, and also broader. Edward's hair was not black, but various shades of bronze which seemed to reflect the sunlight in their perfect disarray. Their own dumb confrontation did not last as long as Alice and Rosalies'. Jasper seemed to be able to tell instinctively that Rosalie was not happy, and was less than a second behind her when she spun around and stormed off, grabbing Emmett by the hand as she went. The Cullens remained rooted in the spot, seemingly amused.

Over the next few weeks it became clear that, in some way, the Cullens had offended the Hales. Although everybody who witnessed the exchange in the car park could not doubt that it had something to do with it, there were clearly other reasons.

For one, there was now an ongoing debate as to who were the more beautiful siblings: It was a shallow argument, and one that inevitably came down to preference. Nonetheless, it shook Rosalie to her core that the opinion of the student body was dividing, and that she was no longer the sole matriarch of Forks High School. Jasper, too, did not like the buzz that the Cullens were generating. Always one step further ahead of the game than Rosalie was, Jasper realized that what was so unsettling about the Cullens was not how different they were, but how many similarities the two families had, aside from their insane attractiveness.

In class it was immediately apparent that Edward was every bit as smart as promised, producing work to equal Jasper's and winning the teachers over instantly. More importantly, winning the female population over instantly down to his looks, charm and mysterious air that surrounded him. Early on he revealed himself to be a musical prodigy, securing himself even more admirers. Watching Edward as closely as he was Jasper picked up on details that passed over the heads of other people, and he alone identified that the fake humility Edward paraded was more laziness and arrogance. Yet, it seemed to do the trick and in no time it was impossible to last a day through school without hearing some deluded girl drone on about how modest Edward was, and how he needed a boost in his confidence so he could play more openly. Consequently, the humble Mr. Cullen was constantly bombarded with compliments and with each counterfeit shake of his head or wave of his hand, his suppressed grin would grow by a millimeter. It made Jasper sick to his stomach to see so many people falling into his trap. Had Edward's musical talent not far surpassed his athletic, Jasper would have been even more infuriated.

When gym came around, the only thing Edward was able to beat Jasper in was a simple sprint and even that race was close. Edward did not show up to any team try-outs and Jasper at least felt confident that Edward was not about to steal that forte from him.

His sister was again another story. Just as intellectual, she maintained her perfect GPA, but did nothing in class to show herself to be the brains of the pair. As her figure and, now renowned grace had foreshadowed, Alice was a dancer. Not surprisingly, since the tales of Edward's intellect had proved to be somewhat accurate, rumors that Alice had danced in the Russian Ballet were not far off the mark. Although she had _not_ been the prima ballerina, she did train for a short with them, and the small dance department in Forks High School welcomed her, and her experience, with open arms.

With such talent and ability, it was obvious why Alice and Edward immediately resented the Hales assumed superiority. They deflected any attempts at a feigned friendship, seeing right through to the blonde twins true intentions. It started slowly, with only those who were sick of the monopoly the Hales had on the school drifting form the status quo, but within three months of the new year the entire students body of Forks High School had been split. Naturally, the music and dance crowds floated towards the new arrivals, finding the new source of power refreshing.

The mainstream athletes and the more loyal followers of Rosalie and Jasper stayed put. A rare few who thought they still stood a chance at being the girl to secure the elusive Jasper in a serious relationship, or thought that they could win over either Alice or Edward, were motivated by their own romantic ideas. Those in the middle chose according to who would get them invited to the best parties or just stuck by their friends.

Even with their growing popularity Alice and Edward did not branch out, and they made very few real friends. No romantic offers were ever accepted. While remaining in their own little bubble, they appeared not to enjoy this small-town version of fame, but it was only an act Jasper knew too well. Predictably, it did not deter the admirerers. Once it was established that the two groups would never get along, and that each had their own distinct set of followers, school life settled. Much to Rosalie's annoyance, Jasper suggested that they accept the changes, and that maybe the Cullens would decide to move before it became permanent.

His hopes were unfounded, however, and by the time they reached their senior year the Cullens, and their minions, remained as large a portion of Forks High School as ever. As they had done the pervious year, the freshmen had picked up on the divide between the students and had settled themselves in accordingly. Towards the end of September the rumor mill began spinning again and the news spread that Chief Swan's daughter was moving to Forks. Neither the Hales not the Cullens were worried by this news: She was only one girl, and she would follow the first person that talked to her. Still, like the rest of the school they still eagerly anticipated the new girl's arrival. What they didn't anticipate was the trouble that ensued.

**End of Preface**


	2. Chapter 1

_First real chapter of the story. Let me know what you think, please. Thanks for the reviews and reads so far, I'll try and reply to them when I can. I won't be updating this often, I just have a lot of time at the minute._

_I do not own any recognizable characters, locations or anything related to Stephenie Meyer's Twilight._

**Chapter 1**

Rosalie heard Isabella Swan before she saw her. Very unlike _their_ smooth and elegant entrance years before, Isabella Swan thundered into the car park in a rusty, faded chevy pickup. The whole car park stopped to stare at the source of the noise, mainly because they knew who was in the cab of truck. Isabella clambered out of the door, shutting it awkwardly behind her while she fumbled with her bag. She was small, Rosalie noted, and definitely thin beneath the layers of practical, but not exactly stylish, clothing. Her face was covered by her hood as she pulled it around herself hurried out of the drizzling rain and under the shelter of the main office, presumably trying not to draw any extra attention to herself.

Watching the rest of the students return to their normal state of socializing once the new girl was out of sight, Rosalie could not stop herself from breathing a sigh of relief. A small part of her, one that she had tried not to acknowledge for the past three weeks since she had heard of Isabella Swan's imminent appearance, had worried that it may bring her as much grief as _they_ had. Now, though, she could see just how stupid her fears had been. What were the chances of the same thing happening again? That someone people believed to be as beautiful, as smart and as charming as the Hales would come to the town of Forks. Isabella was just another student she would have to charm.

She cut her eyes to her brother, sitting in the passenger seat of her bright red convertible, and she could see that the corners of his mouth were turned up. When he realized that she was looking at him he began to laugh, and pretty soon Rosalie joined in. They had both been so pathetic to think that this Swan girl was something to worry about, when it was already perfectly clear that she was completely ordinary, if not slightly awkward. Even though she knew Jasper had felt exactly the same as her about Isabella Swan, Rosalie would never admit how the thought of another female rival made her nauseous. She didn't want Jasper to think her weak, but it was not something Rosalie thought she'd be able to deal with again. For every underhand, manipulative or bitchy thought Rosalie had ever had, karma threw her for a loop with the introduction of Alice Cullen to her world. For years people had assured Rosalie that she was the most beautiful girl in the world. Naturally, it was their fault for cementing her self-assurance like they had. Alice had turned everything she had believed about herself upside down.

Jasper, still chuckling lightly, rubbed his hands through his hair and sank further into his seat, visibly relaxing. Rosalie felt herself do the same.

"Hey, baby," a deep voice growled into Rosalie's ear. She jumped at the sudden sound, hitting her head off the soft top of her car. Unfortunately, she had collided with one of the metal bars inside the material. Beside her, Jasper laughed louder.

"Shit, Emmett, look what you made me do!" she spat in a sudden burst of anger, at the same time shooting an evil look towards Jasper. The relief that the sight of Isabella Swan had caused by making him complacent. He was forgetting that it was not over, simply because she was plain. They still didn't know anything about her, and they needed to ensure that the Cullens did not get to her before they did. Emmett was still crouched beside her open window, holding on by his fingertips, his eyes apologetic. She'd been on edge the past few weeks and Emmett had bore the brunt of her frustration. Placing one of her hands over his, Rosalie leaned into him. "Don't sneak up on me like that," she warned him, lightly adding, "you know there's room for only one sneak in this relationship." She was very close to him now and she couldn't help but smile as his familiar scent drifted towards her. He smiled back at her, grasping the hand she's covered his with. His grin was infectious and Rosalie couldn't help it as her smile grew wider. As usual, Jasper broke the moment.

"And we all know that's you, Rosalie. How many times have you had Mr. Banner up in the bio store room now? And you've only been caught _twice_."

"Shut up, Jasper. You know that was just a rumor." Rosalie hit out at him. He narrowly avoided her fist by jerking his shoulder out of the way. Before she could take another shot, Emmett tugged on her hand.

"Everyone knows it was a rumor, Rose," he soothed, caressing the side of her face in his giant hand. "Banner should be so lucky. Now, what's the damage." Rosalie tilted her head forward, so Emmett could inspect the sore spot where her head had collided with the roof. He completely missed her action, however, and extended his arm right past her to feel the soft roof of the convertible. "Looks good. You could have ripped right through this, you know."

"My head is _not_ that hard." Rosalie rolled her eyes at him in mock exasperation. In truth, she loved that Emmett had always understood her love for cars, in particular, her BMW soft top. She had bought it a few years ago and had recently acquired the skills, and funds, to fix it up. Now it even made the Cullens' Volvo look dull.

"I just know how much time you put into this car," he said, finally placing a kiss of the tender part of Rosalie's blonde hair. "Besides, with my input, I've seen that head break a few things before, or do not need to remind you about that headboard."

"God, I am not listening to this. See you at lunch, Rose. Emmett, you'd better hurry up or Mrs. Goff will report you for being late again." Jasper pulled himself from the car, grabbing his book bag as he went.

"Jasper," Rosalie called after him. She waited until his head appeared just underneath the door before continuing, "Just remember, we have a job to do." He nodded in agreement and Rosalie knew to trust him. He would do what he needed to do. She returned her attentions to Emmett. "He's right, hon," she said, kissing his lips gently, pulling away just as he began to move towards her with more enthusiasm, "we're going to be late."

*******

Jasper was right, and Rosalie arrived at the gym just in time. She had been half hoping that she would be late enough for Coach Clapp to straight to the principal's office. Not that she minded doing sports that much, she was actually better than good at most of them, but she hated having to play them first thing in the morning. If she wanted to keep her hair and make-up somewhat intact then she could never really try hard or she would break into a sweat, and that was out of the question. But she hated not putting her full effort into something, especially when she _knew_ she could do better.

Another reason Rosalie hated gym was because it was the one of the two classes she shared with Alice Cullen.

"Good morning, Miss Hale. I was wondering when you'd show up," the Coach shouted across the gym as Rosalie ran across to join the cluster of students standing in their mandatory gear. The patronizing tone in which Coach Clapp spoke to her did not anger her as much as the small figure standing facing her. Alice Cullen, in all her gym glory, was clad like the rest of them, in the yellow shorts and purple t-shirt. Her socks were pulled right up above the knees of her short legs and her child-size feet were encased in yet another pair of new sneakers.

Rosalie looked her up and down, the familiar feeling of disgust washing through her as she did. Never one to disguise her feelings of animosity towards either of the Cullens, Rosalie was more than sure this disgust was evident on her face. When she finally met Alice's dark eyes, she found the same knowing glare there that she had seen every day for the past two years. The corner's of Alice's mouth twisted into a smile as she eyed Rosalie back. This was something Rosalie saw frequently, but never grew used to. With that smirk, Alice always made Rosalie feel as if she knew something Rosalie didn't, and Rosalie hated it. This unease, however, was one feeling she tried very hard to keep from showing on her face.

Keeping her eyes on Alice, Rosalie pulled her long hair up into a high ponytail. She felt the crowd behind her shift and she noticed that two girls standing near her had inched closer in an act of loyalty. Since the Cullens had changed the social hierarchy in Forks High School, both Rosalie and Jasper had been careful to each make two good friends in the classes when they were split, or when Emmett wasn't with them. The two girls in this case were Lauren Mallory and Nikki Johnson. Nikki was a soccer player, and her aptitude at sports came in handy when picking teams, and she knew Jasper well enough to stick with him. Lauren, on the other hand, was pretty hopeless at anything athletic, and Rosalie did not particularly care for her personality, but she had her own uses. Rosalie would be concentrating on being friendly to her today.

The class began and they were asked to separate into pairs. Throwing a pseudo-apologetic glance in Nikki's direction, Rosalie quickly snatched up Lauren as a partner; she looked thrilled, and a little surprised. Coach Clapp directed them towards a court each and the matches began. To her left and two courts down Alice Cullen and her partner, Ben Cheney, were playing. With the four extra pairs it meant that Alice and Rosalie would not be playing against each other today. This was no coincidence, and many teachers, aware of the feud between the Hales and Cullens, avoided putting them in direct competition.

After losing their first three matches, it was Rosalie and Laurens' turn to sit out. Crossing her legs, Rosalie sat on the first row of the bleachers, inviting Lauren to do the same. With her pale blonde hair and light eyes, Lauren was one of the prettier girls in their year, but she was also one who strived to be as beautiful as Rosalie. Jealously was one of her more prominent characteristics and it was something Rosalie disliked about her, but it made her the prime companion when Rosalie wanted some gossip, or, more often than not, needed some information on fellow students. They sat spectating in silence for a couple of minutes, Lauren no doubt working up the courage to say something. Eventually, she looked away from the games and attempted to engage Rosalie in conversation.

"So, have you seen Isabella Swan yet?" When she asked it was obvious she was aiming for a nonchalant tone, but a slight waver in her voice informed Rosalie of her nerves. This angered Rosalie; it meant that people thought it was a sore topic for her, no doubt remembering her reaction to the Cullens. Still, Rosalie needed some information from this girl, and she didn't want to scare her off by venting her long-lying anger. With some effort, she fixed her features into a look a natural curiosity and spoke in a light tone, achieving the indifference Lauren had been aiming for.

"No, well, I've only really seen the back of her head. She looked quite small though." When she said this, Lauren's eyebrows furrowed and her lips turned down very slightly. Clearly, Lauren already disliked Isabella Swan. "Looked like she could snap in half," she added, watching Lauren's eyes brighten.

"Yeah... she looked kind of weak," she mused, her smile growing. She flashed it in Rosalie's direction, becoming more comfortable by the second. "I haven't talked to her myself, but you know Tyler-" Rosalie nodded- "he thinks she's hot. Said she had a pretty face." This seemed to trouble Lauren and her jealously was already evident. "I suppose she was pretty enough, but I wouldn't call her _hot_. Her body is practically prepubescent."

Rosalie didn't answer outright, but she smiled slightly, giving the impression that she agreed. She needed more information. "What was he talking to her about?"

Lauren shrugged. "Just boring stuff, like where she's from and did she like it here. To be honest, she didn't seem very enthusiastic; said she hates the rain. I mean, who in their right mind would come to Forks if they hated rain?" She looked to Rosalie and Rosalie placated her with a noncommittal nod of her head, which was enough to prompt her further. "Well, I think that's about as far as he got, because Mike ran over and offered to walk her to class. It's ridiculous, they all seem to falling over her. I don't think she liked it. She almost passed out when Mike put his arm around her shoulders. They'll get over it soon." She drifted off into her recent memories, eyeing Tyler Crowley who was playing across the gym.

Eventually they were due to play again and they did not get another opportunity to talk about the new girl. Rosalie did not mind, she didn't like having to sustain conversations with Lauren and she had pulled enough information from her to do for now. She couldn't wait to get to her next class, as it was the one she had with Emmett, so she dressed in a hurry.

On her way out of the changing room she noticed Alice Cullen was watching her closely, worry clouding her face. Alice, being more preceptive than most of the students here, had known exactly what Rosalie was up to by choosing Lauren as a partner. Purposefully walking towards the door closest to Alice, Rosalie fixed a confident smile on her face.

"Something bothering you, Cullen?" she sneered. Alice's eyes narrowed into slits and the worry was replaced by malice.

"Just sorry I didn't get a chance to whip your ass today, _Hale_," she spat, folding her arms over her chest. " Seeing as I whipped every one else's, and an ass like yours isn't exactly hard to miss." Rosalie's smile faltered for a split second, but she quickly recovered. She took a step closer so she towered over Alice. With her lack of height and high pitched voice, most people described her as a pixie, but to Rosalie she was more like one of those small, whiny dogs who were always desperate for attention.

"Just because I let you beat me in Volleyball doesn't mean that you're going to win everything today." Sure that Alice knew what she meant, Rosalie did not wait around to hear her reply. Turning on her stiletto heels she marched out of the changing room and towards her next class.

English was Rosalie's least favorite subject, but she was still good at it. It was in this class when she sat next to Emmett. The teacher had not arrived yet when Rosalie slid into the seat beside Emmett, adorning the side of his neck with a quick kiss. Some who observed this sighed- the girls wistfully, the boys in exasperation- but Rosalie ignored it. She found it very easy to shut out other people when Emmett was around. He spun around in his chair and beamed at her.

"How was Gym?" he asked, as Mr. Mason entered the room.

"Informative," she whispered in reply, at the same time fishing her books from her bag and placing them on the table. Mr. Mason called for attention and they were forced to listen to him drone on about some literature that Rosalie had definitely read before, and Emmett would probably never even remember the same of. From their seat at the back they could sustain a broken, but substantial enough conversation.

Bella- which is what she preferred to be called- was in Emmett's Spanish class. She was the shy type, she moved with her head down and blushed furiously when Mrs. Geoff made her introduce herself in front of the class. According to Emmett, on her way to her seat, she slipped on the wet floor and Jasper had caught her. This piece of information boosted Rosalie's confidence in their task. The battle was as good as over; no warm-blooded female could resist Jasper, let alone a _chivalrous_ Jasper. "She has no hope," Rosalie muttered to Emmett through her growing smile.

By the time lunch came around, Rosalie had still not had a face to face encounter with Bella Swan. All she knew was what Emmett and Lauren had relayed to her, and picking up on numerous other conversations, she had deduced that the whole school was fascinated Bella. This did not worry Rosalie in the same way as the reaction to the Cullens had. It was different, there was no sense of competition about it.

As soon as she strutted through the door of the cafeteria, Rosalie scoured the contained area for some sign of commotion. A wave of gratification washed over her when she noticed an unusually full table in the north end of the cafeteria. The Hale end of the cafeteria. In the middle of the clump of eager students, Rosalie could distinguish the unfamiliar face of Bella Swan, and she had to admit, there was something pretty amid those plain features. Bella looked very uncomfortable.

Over the heads of the crowd, Jasper and Emmett were waiting for Rosalie at their usual table. Emmett beamed, as usual, and Jasper had an extremely smug grin on his face. Even without a seeing her reflection Rosalie knew her new grin mirrored his. Bella was theirs now. _Victory_ was theirs. For, at some point during the day Rosalie had figured out that the probability of another new student joining Forks High School was minimal. Therefore, Bella was their last fight, the last person how would have to choose between the Hales and the Cullens. Already, just halfway through her first day, she had chosen correctly.

Rosalie hurried over to where here brother and boyfriend waited for her. She could not wait to hear how Jasper had won this.

"Not need to thank me, Rose, darling," he said when Rosalie was close enough to hear him. She took her place on Emmett's right sitting to she was nearly facing Jasper but she still had a decent view of the room, and Bella Swan. "It really wasn't that difficult." His smooth voice was dripping with so much arrogance that it would have sickened Rosalie on a normal day, but she was too happy with him to care at the moment.

"Tell me, then, how exactly did you do it?" she asked, looping one of her arms through Emmett's and picking up a grape from the fruit salad he'd picked up for her to throw it into her mouth. Jasper raised a cocky eyebrow at her, sank back into his seat and stretched his arms out over his head. He yawned. Aiming the second grape she'd picked up to eat, Rosalie threw it at him instead. "No need to the theatrics. Emmett already told me how you stopped her from falling, it must have been pretty simple after that, once you're her hero. You're just lucky she can't walk five steps on her own feet."

Jasper leaned forward on the table, seemingly affronted by Rosalie's assumption. "Actually, that was the easiest part. I knew it was coming, Bella clearly doesn't have much balance," he smirked; she amused him. "Anyway, I couldn't just whisk her off into the sunset there and then, could I?" Emmett laughed at this; they always found the power Jasper had on hormonal girls a source of humor. "That was simply to pique her interest, lay the foundation. Then, I had to set up the scaffolding, structure the-"

"Seriously, Jasper, enough with the imagery. Get to the point," Rosalie pressed.

"Fine," he scowled, "but it's not going to sound as impressive now." Rosalie rolled her eyes. "After I introduced myself after class, I brought Jessica Stanley into the conversation, you know how easily led she is. In a fantastic coincidence, Bella and Jessica were in the next class together, so they got talking." His smile was returning. "I silently slipped away, with just a smile in Swan's direction. Next thing I know, she's eating lunch with Stanley and her friends, throwing the occasional glance in our direction. _My_ direction," he added, his eyes sparkling. He scanned the room, passing over Bella with just a second of a pause.

Suddenly, his features grew hard and his eyes became menacing. Before she even looked up, Rosalie knew the Cullens were involved.

Sure enough, when she did look, Edward Cullen was shooting daggers at their table. Alice was watching Bella, curiosity filling her eyes. She muttered something to her brother and a small smile threatened the corner of his mouth. Alice smiled back, triumphantly. Without any further exchange, and without taking their eyes off Rosalie, Jasper and Emmetts' table, they picked up their things and strode out of the cafeteria.

For the second time that day, Alice had filled Rosalie with the dreaded suspicion that they knew something Rosalie and Jasper didn't. She couldn't bring herself to draw her eyes to the other side of the room where Bella was sitting. She didn't need to, for Jasper uttered her fears in his next sentence.

"She was watching them."

**End of Chapter 1**


	3. Chapter 2

_Second chapter time. Not sure if this one's as good, but I hope you all like it. Thanks for reading so far. Again, I'll try and reply to reviews when I have time. Huge thank-you to those who have left them. _

_Disclaimer: All things Twilight are property of Stephenie Meyer_

**Chapter 2**

In long, easy strides, Edward kept up with Alice's short legs with little effort. She was hurrying ahead of him like they were being chased by a mass murderer and breaking into a run meant certain death. Still, he followed her without question until she stopped behind the Gym, where no one could see them. The stop was so sudden that Edward almost knocked into her, but she was so lost in her own mutterings she didn't even notice.

Her lips moved quickly as low words Edward could not distinguish tumbled from them. Her small feet carried her as she paced in front of him, side to side in constant motion. Her hands were pressed to her temples, moving in a slow, circular motion. Her eyes were squeezed shut. Alice was planning something. Eventually, her words began to make some sense.

"She was with Jessica Stanley... won't get... Newton could cause problems... doesn't look like she'd like that... especially with Lauren," she mumbled. It was dizzying to watch her move this much this quickly.

"Alice?" Edward tried hesitantly. She held up one of her hands momentarily to stop him, and then returned it to her temple. He didn't press her. Instead, he sighed and rocked back and forth on his heels slowly, waiting for her to finish. Her words became even more disjointed and he knew she was coming to her conclusion.

Obviously this was about Isabella Swan. Well, more about the Hales really, but Isabella was an important part of this particular equation. _The new girl, what a novelty_, Edward thought to himself. Honestly, he didn't see the problem with her. She was pretty enough, decent body, but nothing to get worked up about. Apparently, the boys at Forks High School didn't agree with him. It wouldn't be the first time. They were already chasing after her, and the disappointed sigh that emitted from the half on the Cullen side of the cafeteria was audible when she sat beside Mike Newton and his crowd. Edward wasn't even sure why Alice thought she deserved the attention she was getting.

"Got it," his sister shouted gleefully. Her face was lit up with excitement, but her eyes betrayed her true nature. It was more than mischief in there.

"Enlighten me, _please_," Edward replied, his voice laden with sarcasm. "I am simply dying with suspense over here." Alice's face dropped into a more serious expression. Edward just rolled his eyes.

"This is important, Edward. Don't you get it?" she asked, slowly placing her hands on her hips. "Isabella Swan is-"

"Just another girl, Alice, let them have her." Alice froze and her eyes bulged. She sucked in a deep breathe, indicating that Edward had probably said the wrong thing.

"_Let them have her?_" she seethed. He had definitely said the wrong thing. "Are you shitting me? You expect me to sit back and let Rosalie Hale, Queen of Fucking Everything, think she's better than us? And what about Jasper, did you not _see_ his face today? It was disgusting! We _cannot_ let them get away this." She was furious now, but not at him, at the Hales. The emotion in her eyes was so intense it made Edward feel guilty for not feeling the same way. He tried to get himself worked up. She was right, seeing the pure, unadulterated arrogance on Jasper Hale's face today had made his stomach twist into knots. It was that same look Alice and him had wiped off the face of the two barbie twins the year they'd arrived. When it had been long overdue.

Alice could sense his anger was growing. "So, are you in?" Her eyebrows lifted in hope. "Ready to know those bastards off their small-town pedestals for the final time?"

Edward thought about it for a moment. As much as he would love to see the bitter disappointment on their faces, there was still one thing he didn't get. "Why is this girl so important?" he voiced his qualm out loud.

"She's the last one," Alice stated simply. "If everything goes according to plan, we will never have the bad fortune to encounter the Hales once we leave Forks, so Isabella Swan is the last person who will have to choose." She had been bouncing about for the past few minutes, but now she stood still. "It's the last fight." She put heavy emphasis on the last two syllables, making clear how important this was to her.

The bell rang and the simultaneous movement of hundreds of students could be heard. Alice did not let him break eye contact.

"I'll think about it," he finally conceded, to appease Alice, if for nothing else. It was enough for her.

"Brilliant," she grinned. "When you've decided, I'll tell you my plans." Before Edward had a chance to call her out on her conviction of his participation, she had danced off join the students milling out of the doors of the red brick building. "And call her Bella," she shouted to finish, throwing him her usual all-knowing smirk.

A laugh escaped through his lips. Once Alice had a notion in her head, there was no way of deterring her. She was unwavering in her determination and, like an ant, she had an incredible strength that wasn't proportional to the size of her body. That's partly what made her so dangerous, she was unexpected.

But Edward was finding it difficult to agree with her on this point. He just could not see why this one girl was going to make such a difference. However, Alice was nearly always right about things she shouldn't really know anything about, so he would at least consider playing along with whatever devious trouble she had planned. In a worst case scenario, it would at least cause some trouble for the Hales. The way Jasper had been watching that girl at lunch, Edward had not seen that look Jasper's eyes in a long time, and it bothered him. He should be viewing Isabella Swan as little more than a pawn in their twisted mind games, but there was definitely something else on his mind judging by the way his pale eyes lingered over her. Both Alice and Rosalie had missed it, but this just solidified Edward's conviction. If it was something only a fellow teenage boy could recognize, then it meant trouble.

"She's not worth it," Edward mumbled to himself as he stepped into the hallway which would lead him to the Biology lab. He was late, there were no other students about since they were all confined in their classrooms. He picked up the pace.

"Just in time, Edward," Mr Banner greeted him when he rushed through the door. Edward just gave him an apologetic half-smile and headed towards his table, not paying attention to the rest of Mr. Banner's lecture on tardiness. He stopped short just before he reached his usual seat and tuned into the end of what Mr. Banner was saying. "So, I hope you won't mind sharing for the rest of the year?"

The Biology teacher had not been rhyming off one of his speeches to Edward, rather, alerting him to a new addition to the class. There, in the seat that had been empty for the past two years, sat the blushing, ordinary Isabella Swan. She looked at Edward with expectant eyes, and he realized she, and Mr. Banner, were waiting for him to reply.

"No, that's perfectly fine with me," he announced, flashing his winning smile, first at Mr. Banner, then Isabella, whose blush merely intensified. She pulled her seat in closer to the desk and allowed Edward to push past her.

Taking his seat he glanced over at the girl that now sat beside him. The blush had disappeared revealing the porcelain skin Edward had seen from a distance earlier. Up close he could appreciate the contrast of her skin against her hair. Without making it obvious, he studied her as meticulously as he could, trying to understand what her great appeal was. Surely there was something magical about Isabella Swan, which could only be seen upon inspection, that had sent the testosterone-fueled brains of the Forks High School male teenagers into overdrive. All brains except his, that is.

He sat for the first ten minutes of the class trying to come up with any superficial quality she possessed for which she deserved this merit. At the end of his alloted time, there was only one thing he could come up with. She smelled _really_ good. That was is it, her _smell_. Edward was pretty sure that, on some level, the fact that her _smell_ was the best thing about her was pretty insulting. The next five minutes he spent deciding what exactly the smell was, not content with the title of 'Isabella Swan'. Eventually, he pinpointed strawberry as the main scent which wafted in his direction when she pulled her hair over her shoulder.

Amid his mental wonderings he also came to another conclusion: Isabella was just like the strawberry. Everybody loved the strawberry. The strawberry looked good. The strawberry tasted good, too. Who could say no to a strawberry? Except the strawberry is a common fruit. Even in its beauty, it is very easy to come by. You could drop down to a local market and pick up a whole bunch with absolutely no difficulty. With this, somewhat abstract, comparison in mind, Edward also realized why she attracted so many guys in just one day. Unlike the undeniably beautiful Alice, or the obviously attractive Rosalie, Isabella was _attainable_. She was the only one within their reach, and Jasper Hale was going to ruin all their fun.

It was then Edward remembered something Alice had said to him earlier. Not noticing himself voicing the thoughts aloud, Edward said quietly, "Call her Bella."

"I'm sorry?" Edward was snapped out of his internal observations by a soft voice. Isabella- Bella Swan was looking at him, her brown eyes questioning. _You just said her name_, Edward mentally kicked himself. _ Of course she's going to think you're talking to her_.

He decided to recover in the only way he knew how, by pretending he had done it on purpose. "Bella, that's your name, right?" If he acted like this was what he said in the first place, she wouldn't know how stupid he felt at that moment.

"Yeah," she replied. Edward noticed a line appear between her eyebrows when they puckered in confusion. "But how did you know to call me Bella? I mean, yeah, it's my name, but most people didn't realize. How... ?"

She looked up at him as her voice tailed off, her eyes holding the same curiosity as before. Edward was caught off guard by how wide they grew in their innocent questioning. He was stuck. On the one hand, he did not want to reveal Alice and her stalker-like tendencies. However, on the other, the only coherent sentence his brain seemed to be able to string together when under the interrogation from these two intense, brown eyes was '_You smell like strawberries_.'Thankfully, he in control of his vocal chords enough this time to keep that particular thought private.

Bella drew back from him slightly, and Edward became aware that he still hadn't answered her question. The bell rang before he could continue what was the strangest conversation he had ever had, if it could even be called that, giving Bella just enough time cast another confused look in his direction before Mike Newton came scurrying over. Newton pulled Bella away very quickly, looking just as put out as she did. Edward quickly picked up his books and tried to follow them out the door in an attempt regain some sense of normality. He put on a show of running his hand through his hair. Close by, a girl's breathing hitched. There, normality.

However, something Mike attempted to whisper subtly to Bella made him stop dead in his tracks.

"What did I tell you? Completely gay," he said louder than intended. Bella cautiously glanced over her shoulder to look at Edward, only to turn away the instant her eyes met his. Even from behind he could see her face turn red.

They were out of both ear and eyeshot before they continued their conversation, while Edward remained rooted in the Biology lab. When he willed his feet to move enough to carry himself out of the room he was not surprised to find Alice waiting for him.

"I am not gay," he told her. He turned and marched up the hall, Alice keeping in stride. "I am not gay," he reiterated with more fervor. He didn't know why it annoyed him so much, he'd heard all the rumors before.

"I know you aren't," Alice assured him, patting him on the arm. She couldn't disguise the delight in her tone. "So, now are you ready to take down the Hales for the final time?"

Edward ground his teeth in frustration. On his part, he could foresee this high school battle requiring a lot of effort, effort he wasn't sure was worth expending. However, the vehemence of the hated he felt towards Jasper Hale at that moment was so strong that nothing but the thought of revenge could keep Edward was ripping his throat out there and then. He looked back to Alice, who was practically skipping with excitement.

"Absolutely."

*******

Edward's jaw was beginning to hurt. He had tried to take Alice's advice and relax, but it was impossible. Whenever he did manage to forget what had passed after Biology, a whispered "Jasper", "Hale" or "Bella" would travel across the classroom and trigger this new reflex. It was only made worse by the fact that seated, not surprisingly, at the opposite side of the classroom were the sources of his anger. The only way Edward could ensure they didn't see how their petty mind games had affected him was to ignore them completely. This was not hard, in fact, it was preferable.

"I can't believe _Mike Newton_ told her I way gay," Edward spat, turning his keys and feeling the movement of the car beneath him as it sprang to life. Finally, he could escape this hell hole. Beside him Alice sat up in her seat, staring at him incredulously. "What?" he eventually conceded to ask when it was clear she wasn't going to say something herself.

Alice turned back so she faced forwards again. Within a second she was back up in her seat, typically restless. "Don't get me wrong, I'm happy that you're finally agreeing to go along with my plan-"

"Which you still haven't told me," he reminded her. This wouldn't be the last time he'd have to do it.

"Whatever, I'll get to it." She rolled her eyes at him. "The point is, as much as I hate to question any motives of hated directed at Jasper Hale," she paused again to size him up with her eyes, "_why _is this bothering you so much?"

Truthfully, Edward could not answer that question. The gay rumor had been circulating long before Bella Swan arrived at Forks and so far he had found it little more than amusing, if not unimaginative. Just because he didn't take his pick from the fine selection of females in Forks, he was automatically a homosexual. Or asexual, depending on what day of the week it was and who Jasper had been talking to. Before now, he honestly hadn't cared. That changed the moment Bella Swan had looked back at him in Biology; she was deciding whether or not it was true.

The familiar gravel of home that rolled beneath his tires provided him with some comfort and Edward directed the car into the garage in silence. He didn't even consider that Alice had let him go without an answer. So, when he pulled himself out of his own seat and walked over to open Alice's door for her, he hovered for a moment before, not yet closing it behind her again. She gave him a blank look, knowing what was coming.

"I don't know," he said, not meeting her eyes. In his peripheral he noticed her lips tighten. With one swift move she strode over and pushed the door Edward was still holding the edges of closed. It shut with a resounding slam under her considerable force. It was so quick that Edward missed losing the tips of his fingers by half a second and a quick reaction. Alice's expression was unchanged as she glared up at him.

"Figure it out," she ordered in a cold tone, emphasizing the first word. She stepped passed him again and through the door which led to the rest of the house.

Edward gripped the side of his car and pulled himself forward so the his forehead rested against the cool metal. It soothed his throbbing head. When Alice was mad at you, things were seriously dire, and Edward knew it. He took a minute to pull himself together somewhat and walked through the same door Alice had, following her voice to the kitchen where she was mid-conversation with their mother.

"Six thirty, dear," he heard Esme answer an unknown question. "So, how was you day?" It was the usual routine; Alice and Edward would arrive home, Esme would be waiting in the kitchen they would ask one another how their day was and then retire to their separate rooms. Carlisle would come home just in time for dinner and they would repeat their previous conversation, this time at the dinner table. Alice was half way through her reply when they came into Edward's view.

"Nothing out of the ordinary. I got a 92 in my English paper, the Hales were bastards-"

"Alice," Esme warned.

"They were, and are," she justified in response. At this point Edward stepped into the kitchen. He ignored Alice, who was sitting at the breakfast bar, and gave Esme her standard kiss on the cheek. Alice narrowed her eyes and continued, "And Edward was frustrated. Big surprise." Edward glared at her, but it only provoked her to go further. "Oh, but not just sexually today, mother, mentally, too."

"Alice!" Esme reprimanded, although she gave Edward a once over, to make her own assessment. He headache was growing.

"I'm going to my room," he called, leaving as fast as he could. "What time is dinner-"

"Six thirty," shouted Esme, cutting him off. "I swear, if I had a dollar.... "

He didn't hear her finish as his heavy door insulated him room of extraneous family noise. It was something he had become overtly grateful of.

Throwing himself on him bed he shut his eyes and tried to forget everything that had passed in the last couple of hours. He didn't expect to be successful, and perhaps that's why he wasn't. Or else it was because he knew any efforts would be futile, as, any moment now, Alice would be knocking on his door and reminding him of everything all over again. Why suffer through it twice? Either way, unwelcome thoughts of Jasper Hale, Mike Newton and Bella Swan swam through his head. They were the worst painkillers.

Even if no one else knew his sister, he certainly did. Edward was not aware of how long it took, but at some point a soft rapping emitted from his door. Typically, Alice didn't wait for his approval and poked her head in, followed by the rest of her body. Her face betrayed no signs of apology. She was still mad at him. However, she also needed him to help her in her plans, and whatever resentment she felt towards Edward was always engulfed by her hatred for Jasper and Rosalie Hale.

She had come to tell him her plan.

**End of Chapter 2**


	4. Chapter 3

_Sorry it's a day late, but I'm sure you all know about the trouble people have been having logging in and stuff._

_Thanks to everyone who read the last chapter and to those who reviewed. It really makes my day to get reviews :). Hope you all enjoy this chapter._

**Chapter 3**

Alice sat cross-legged on the sofa Edward's room. Edward had been pacing the floor in front of her ever since Alice had told him the most vital part of her plan. It didn't dishearten her to see his reaction; a lot of the time, Edward was too rational about things. Well, he _tried_ to be rational, but eventually his impulsiveness would take over and he would do whatever the hell he wanted. This was why Alice was certain he'd give in.

"So, for the last time," he said, looking at Alice in disbelief, "let me get this straight. You want me," he pointed to his own chest, "to _court _ Bella Swan."

Alice sighed. This was the fifth time he'd said it and every time Alice had given him the same answer. "Yes, Edward, I want _you_ to court Bella Swan. Now, for _my_ last time, can I ask why this is so difficult to understand?" Edward blinked. "Is it the word 'court', sweetie?" she asked her most patronizing voice. "Has that confused you? It means.... " She tailed off and rolled her head back, knowing she didn't really have to act like a dictionary for Edward's sake.

"I know what it means, Alice," he scowled. "But why don't you just tell me to date her? It makes more sense."

"Because, it would be cruel to make her think you liked her that much, and then she'd only be more disappointed when you eventually make it clear that you're not interested," Alice explained. She had been thinking her plan through since it first came into her head earlier in the day, so her answers were well prepared for his questioning.

Edward's shoulders, which had been tense, dropped. "How is me making her think that I like her enough to date her, but never actually taking her anywhere any less cruel? It just means that she gets all of the emotional abuse without any of the perks." He slowed his movement and sat on the edge of his four poster bed, his hands clasped together in front of him. He looked at her in earnest, waiting for her reply.

Alice tried to contain the smile that arose when she realized phase one of her plan was almost complete: Break down Edward. He was beginning to listen to her now, to take in everything she was saying and really think about it.

"You know what people in this town are like. Just imagine the scandal it would cause if you asked _anyone_ out, let alone the new girl. It would be too obvious, people would see exactly what we are trying to do and prevent it from happening. " Alice paused to let this information sink in. She knew she was right, and Edward knew it too. When his nod confirmed this fact, she went on, "This will have to be done very carefully. We need to mess with their heads."

Edward's eyes were fixed on Alice, but evidently his thoughts were elsewhere. She waited patiently for his next argument while his eyes stared straight through her.

Although Alice had lived with Edward for over ten years now, he was still very difficult to read sometimes. Like the present. His thought processes were unnecessarily complicated, as, nine times out of ten, Alice could predict exactly what he would end up doing before he even made the decision. This was why Alice was convinced that Edward would eventually have no objection to her scheme. What she didn't know was how long it would take, what he would need to be assured of and how strongly he felt about it. She could see the ends, but not the means.

After another couple minutes of thinking, Edward propped his elbows on his knees. He looked uncertain about something, but still guarded. "But that is just the last part, right? We still have more to do first?"

"Sure," Alice replied, slightly surprised that he didn't have more questions about the part that involved his interaction with Bella, which he seemed to have trouble discussing. "You will have to ease into that, otherwise it won't be believable." Edward smiled in agreement. "We have some slight manipulation and rearranging to do first. For example, her lunch table."

He sat up, already critical. "How are we going to do that?" he asked, his voice incredulous.

"Leave it up to me, Edward. I'll take care of it," Alice said with complete confidence. She had it all worked out in her head, and she wasn't sure it was vital that Edward knew every part of the plan; he had enough to deal with. She stood to leave. "Just you worry about Bella Swan. She will be your main priority," she said in her business-woman voice. "Talk to her, amuse her, _interest_ her. Lay the foundations."

Something in Edward's expression conveyed how hesitant he was about this, but not just that, he also looked scared.

"Alice?" he asked, just as she'd turned his back to him. His voice was softer than it had been before.

"Yes."

"How did you know I'd be speaking to her today?"

Alice didn't understand what he was getting at, though she was under no illusion as to who 'she' referred to. "What do you mean?"

"Well, you told me to call her Bella. How did you know that I'd even have to? That I'd be talking to her?" Alice couldn't help the smile that came with seeing Edward so confused. He always underestimated the lengths she would go to to get things done properly.

"Everyone could not stop talking her, and after listening into a few conversations it was more than east to guess her timetable. I figured I would let you know what she preferred to be called, as a precautionary action. Did she appreciate it?"

Edward gave a kind of half smile, so Alice could not judge much from it. However, as long as he was agreeing to go along with everything she had in store, she was not worried.

Skipping down the stairs and into the kitchen, Alice began to help Esme prepare the dinner. The whole time her mother was throwing her suspicious glances, obviously desperate to know what they had been talking about in Edward's room.

After five looks too many, impatience finally flared in Alice. "I'm not going to tell you what we were talking about. It was of no importance to you, so don't worry about it," she said, placing the cutlery on the kitchen table. Little tea candles were lined up along the centre and beside each place setting was a small flower. Alice knew she was overdoing it for a mundane family dinner, but she really couldn't help herself, and it always made Esme happy to see their house looking good.

Alice looked up from her masterpiece of the day and Esme was staring at her from over a pot. The look in her eyes contested that she was offended by what Alice had said, however, the smile playing on her lips exposed her true meaning. Esme was a terrible lair.

"Everything to do with you and Edward is important to me. How could you even think otherwise? Have I not been a good mother?" Esme said with wide eyes and feigned sincerity. Knowing her too well, Alice waited for just a moment. Right on cue, Esme begin to laugh, followed by Alice.

"Don't even try to guilt me into filling you in, it's not going to happen." Alice shook her finger at Esme.

"Can't blame a mother for trying," Esme grinned. "But I honestly do care, and I would like you to tell me _something_." Removing her oven glove, she stood at the counter and rested her chin in her hands. "Just one little thing," she pouted. "Please?"

Alice sighed dramatically. "Esme, you sure know how to wear me down," she joked. Esme's eyes brightened, excited at the prospect of hearing some real gossip.

Since she could remember, Alice had been shuttled between foster families. She had seen almost every type of parent there possibly was: the doting, the protective, the non-indulgent, the neglecting, the abusive, the "friend" and the unrelenting maternal. Because of her vast range of experiences, Alice had learnt how to be a good judge of character. She was rarely wrong. This also meant that, guessing how people to react to certain situations, she would always know the outcome of her placements as soon as she met the family. She knew which family would last longer, and which one wouldn't.

Esme, Alice had always felt, feel somewhere between the last two types. For someone who had never had their own children, Esme had maternal instincts that were almost unnatural. On the other hand, compared to other mothers, she was relatively young. So, although they did not share the typical mother-daughter relationship, they had something special that Alice preferred. They had a mutual respect for one another.

Esme could talk to her like a sister, but comfort her like a mother. For that, Alice knew she was extremely lucky.

"What do you want to know?"

A wicked gleam flickered across Esme's eyes. "Tell me about the new girl," she said in a hushed voice, clearly enjoying this.

"I already told you everything," Alice replied in confusion. An account of Bella Swan had been included in the daily school update. "She's called Bella and she's Chief Swan's-"

"No, Alice. What about, well, you know...?" She directed her gaze upwards and cocked her head to the side.

"Edward?" Alice was seriously confused now. Could Esme know about her plans? A strange, unknown guilt twisted in Alice's stomach.

"You told me she was pretty. What does Edward think?" The hope on Esme's face almost made Alice's heart break, and her stomach release its knots. Esme wanted to talk about Edward's love life.

Even at the age of 18, Edward had never been on a date with a girl. It was not for lack of offers, though, and this seemed to be a great concern of Esme's. She felt that Edward needed someone to help bring him out of himself, in a way that none of their family ever could.

On the other hand, Alice had always been very independent. She had been on dates, but had never held down a steady boyfriend. It wasn't a main priority for her, and she knew this was also the case with Edward. However, like their mother, she, too, wished he would find someone. Just one girl, not something serious. But he never even came close.

"I don't know, he didn't seem that interested. He didn't even notice what she looked like, even though she was in his Biology class " The disappointment was evident in Esme's features. For her plan to work, he would have to pretend that he did feel more than indifference, but Alice could not lie about this to Esme. "I wouldn't get your hopes up," Alice sighed. Esme conceded defeat and went back to preparing dinner. "Maybe she'll dazzle him with her personality?" Alice tried to lighten the heavy mood which had settled over the room with her blatant optimism. Esme smiled and shook her head.

Somewhere at the front of the house a door slammed. Carlisle called out to an empty living room.

"We're in here, honey," Esme shouted in response.

"Hey, Carlisle," said Alice, walking past him. "What me to get Edward for dinner?" Esme nodded.

Once they were all settled for dinner and the customary conversation had been exchanged, focus again returned to the newest resident of Forks. This time it was Carlisle who brought her up.

"So, what is this I hear about Charlie Swan's daughter? I understand that today was her first day?" Carlisle said cheerfully, passing a dish on to Esme, who was looking expectantly at Alice.

Taking it as her prompt to speak, Alice first cleared her throat. "We weren't talking to her much, to be honest," she told Carlisle, who looked slightly disappointed. "But I think she was welcomed well enough."

"I'd like to hope so, Chief Swan is a good man." When Carlisle spoke these words his voice rang with sincerity.

They had been told numerous times how, when the people of Forks had judged him on his wealthy reputation rather than his abilities and he had been met with mostly disdain, Charlie convinced many to ignore what they'd been told and welcome Carlisle into their community. Despite this, some still kept their distance from the family, but at least they put on smiles when Carlisle was treating them. For this, Carlisle was always grateful and he never let an opportunity to remind them of Charlie's kindness pass.

"I saw her sitting with a few people at lunch, Carlisle." Alice met his stare, trying to ease his worries with her words. "She was talking to people, eating lunch. Really, she looked like she was enjoying herself."

"Yeah, the Hales really made her feel welcome," said Edward, speaking for the first time that evening. His voice was harsh, his eyes focused on the table and an unmistakable bitterness penetrated his words. An unexpected tension fell like dust over the table.

Looking away from her mysteriously sullen brother, Alice found Esme's eyes and could only guess that the look of surprise she saw there was not unlike her own. Esme diverted her gaze and blinked rapidly. She could not stand awkward silences, especially at her dinner table.

"Alice tells me Bella is in your Biology class, Edward," she said, with Edward's name given a little extra volume so as to get his attention. "Were you talking to her?"

Edward looked up, seemingly surprised that the rest of his family's eyes were fixed on him. When Esme's words sank in, he glanced at Alice before he answered. Given his present unpredictable mood swings, she almost expected him to be angry at what she had disclosed, but his face was unreadable and his emotions shielded.

"Yes, she was in my class," he said with an even voice. "I didn't really get a chance to have a substantial conversation with her though, she seemed to have enough friends to be getting on with." He smiled to finish, but when the conversation was steered in a different direction Alice watched it morph into a grimace. No doubt he was recalling Mike Newton's comment. Alice struggled to resist rolling her eyes at him, since she could feel Esme watching them both.

Surviving through dessert with comments about future camping trips and more hospital anecdotes from Carlisle, Esme had just begun to clear the dishes when Alice made her move.

"Edward, I have a Shakespeare essay I'm working on, would you mind looking over it for me?" she asked, trying to keep her voice light.

"Of course," he replied, missing Alice's point and remaining fixed in his chair.

"Now," she said with force, smiling. To avoid any more confusion, Alice pushed herself back from the table and stood. Edward understood this time and followed suit as Alice led him out of the kitchen.

She went quietly up the stairs and directly to her room. Edward walked over to her desk, trying to locate the non-existent piece of writing.

"Where is it?" he asked, his eyebrows knitted in confusion.

Alice sighed in exasperation. For someone so smart, he could be so dense sometimes.

"There is no essay, I just needed to talk to you without Esme listening in."

"Oh," he replied. "About what?" Alice was sure the uncertainty in his features was now held there for show. Because of this Alice did not reply out loud, but instead glared at him, watching as his face slowly relaxed under her glare and he sank into her chair in resignation.

He cupped his face in his hands and then ran them simultaneously through his hair, expelling a loud sigh.

"I don't know, Alice. I really don't. What is wrong with me?" He pinched the bridge of his nose and ran his forefinger and thumb across his eyes. Alice leant against her desk and crossed her arms.

"You have been acting strange all day. I can't actually believe that this is still about Mike Newton. What is wrong?" The frustration she had felt about his attitude earlier had evaporated, and she was now concerned.

Edward sat for a while mulling over his words, occasionally he would look as though he was about to speak, but this occurred numerous times before he finally surrendered and just shook his head.

"I thought you said Bella was just another girl," Alice said softly, walking over to him. While he was seated on her bed Alice had a slight height advantage over him. "This is not just about the gay thing, it's Bella." As she said this she took up a place beside him. They sat in silence for another few minutes, while Alice waited for Edward to gather his thoughts.

"I didn't even talk to her properly, I made a complete idiot out of myself," he admitted to her. "I just...." He sighed again. "I just couldn't string one simple sentence together. That's never happened to be before. Usually, I choose not to talk. This time, I couldn't."

A question that had been looming in Alice's head all afternoon came to the forefront of her mind. When it had first made an appearance, she had quickly dismissed it. Now, it was beginning to seem like a possibility.

"Do you think," she started hesitantly, as though testing hot water, "that maybe you like her?" It was something she never thought she would have to ask Edward about a girl during their High School years, but here she was, asking.

Edward looked at her like she was crazy. She felt she was, now.

"I don't even know the girl, Alice," he said with a slight edge.

"You know, there is this little thing called _physical attraction_. Ever thought that might be it?" Alice knew she shouldn't have brought it up and tried to keep any aggression out of her voice.

"It's not that."

"Are you sure?" she asked skeptically. Edward sounded as though he was being honest, but Alice wasn't sure he would be able to recognize if he had feelings for someone himself.

"Definitely," he replied, meeting Alice's eyes with full intensity of conviction. "I just don't understand her."

"What's not to understand?" Alice said, a hint of laughter in her voice. "She's a girl, Edward."

"I know," he said with an angry growl. He stood up now, his shoulders tense, defensive. "I _know_ she's just a girl." His sudden aggression was enough to startle Alice. Although she was still confused, she did not want to push him any farther and chose her next words carefully.

"Look, Edward, if you want to leave out that part of the plan, I don't mind. I have plenty of other things up my sleeve, it was only a last resort," she said, trying to keep herself from sounding patronizing. "I was going to talk to Ben and Angela tomorrow, they seem like the type of people-"

"What?" His words cut across hers with venom. Alice was shocked into a seconds silence.

"I-I mean, it's not completely necessary for you court her, so it you want to just leave it.... " She stopped this time not because of an interruption, but because the ferocious glare in Edward's eyes was truly scaring her now.

"You don't think I can do this." It didn't sound like a question, but his eyes dared her to respond.

"Of course I think you _can_." She leaned away from him.

He cackled like a maniac. Alice found nothing humorous in the situation.

"Don't lie! You don't think I can," he said, his voice serious again. "Well think again. This _girl_-" He spat the word- "is no more than annoyance. I can handle her perfectly well." He turned to walk out. "So, don't you worry about what I can and can't do Alice, I'll be just fine."

He slammed the door, leaving Alice in total shock. She had rarely seen her brother this angry, and never before had he seemed so..._unhinged_.

Sitting with her back to her headboard Alice tried her best to clear her head. _He is just having a bad day_, she managed to convince herself. It was the best she could do. Once his mind was made up, there was no changing it. She would have to trust him and hope for the best.

Alice had never been so unsure about the future she was now.

**End of Chapter 3**


	5. Chapter 4

_Time for the next chapter. Sorry it's a bit late, but I hope you all enjoy it. Thanks again to those who left reviews, I love them so much :)._

_Disclaimer: All recognizable Twilight characters and locations belong to Stepehenie Meyer. No copyright infringement is intended._

**Chapter 4**

The luminous red numbers rearranged themselves to display the hour and Edward slapped the little machine with him palm before the alarm had the chance to emit a complete buzz.

He sighed and rolled onto his back again. Small panels of light snuck beneath his blinds on the window. Edward had been tracking their stealthy approach since its beginning at dawn, and before that he had contented himself by staring into the darkness.

Edward was lucky in the respect that he usually did not need much sleep to function. However, on nights like the one that had just passed, he wished for his insomnia disappear. He eyes felt heavy and he had a headache.

Eventually shrugging off his covers, he forced himself to sit at his desk and try to focus in the work he was unable to complete the night before.

After reading the same page of his Spanish novel six times in a row without absorbing anything, he decided to have an early shower to wake his brain up. It was just another distraction, and his later attempts at working were again in vain.

Finally, after filling in answers without any thought and simply to avoid hassle from his teachers that day, Edward allowed his mind to wander the place he had been avoiding for the past hour.

Bella Swan.

Later, he knew, he would have to lie to Alice. It was something he hated to do, but she would only treat him like she'd done last night if he revealed the truth. If she found out that the thought of Bella Swan had kept Edward up all night, no doubt her mind would jump back to the ridiculous accusation she made last night.

For, although he could not understand what he knew of the girl so far, Edward definitely did not have romantic feelings for Bella.

Since he had left Alice, Edward's short encounter with Bella in their Biology class had been running through his mind over and over again.

He tried to remember exactly what she had said to him, and what he had said to her. He tried to recall how her voice sounded and how her hair feel over her shoulders, shielding her profile from his vision. No matter how hard he tried to create a clearer picture of Bella Swan in his head, only one thing stood out: The dark, deep brown of her eyes as they scrutinized him carefully.

At some point during his nocturnal musings Edward had come to at least one conclusion, but it did nothing to ease his sufferings. It wasn't the fact that Bella Swan might believe that he is gay that annoyed Edward, it was something he could easily deal with. No, it was the way in which she had looked at him; like she could tell with just one glance, like she was able to sum him up within seconds, like he was something she could stare at whichever way she wanted.

It was that feeling that he hated, one which had plagued him throughout the day. Whenever he thought of Bella Swan, that feeling came back to him.

Today, he would purge himself of that feeling, while simultaneously proving to Alice that the thought of holding intelligent conversation with Bella did not daunt him. He would prove it to himself.

By the time it came around for him to change for school, Edward chose his outfit more carefully than he cared to admit to himself. He pulled on an ordinary pair of dark denim jeans and a light grey sweater. He knew he looked good, but it was plain and very casual. He didn't want to look like he'd put too much thought into it, but he did not want to risk Alice whining at him to put more effort into what he wore. But his hard work had payed off, for whenever he made it downstairs where the rest of his family were having their breakfast Alice gave him a once over and her lips raised into a slight smile.

"Morning, Edward," Carlisle said, looking up from his papers.

Edward returned the greeting and poured himself some coffee. It was something he rarely needed, but today he felt like he would be grateful for the extra kick. While he drank he noticed Alice keeping a watchful eye on him. It was the kind of behavior he would normally expect from Esme, but in light of how he'd acted towards his sister last night, he wasn't surprised. She did not speak to him until they reached the school.

The hushed working of the engine sounded louder than usual as they rode to school in silence. Edward's subconscious must have desired for a quicker end to the journey, because when they pulled into the school car park it was empty and he realized that they had made it there in record time.

"Edward-"

"Alice," he interrupted her - he didn't want an apology from her, that kind of affection always made him feel awkward. "Don't worry about me." He spoke softly, his voice devoid of the anger he felt last night. "I can handle this."

She looked unsure, but nodded to indicat that she accepted what he told her, whether or not she believed it. Silence again filled the car and the pair waited until the rest of the student body had arrived before stepping into the damp air.

Edward navigated his way through the bodies with ease, keeping his senses alert.

She hadn't arrived yet, he was sure of it. Her truck would give him at least two minutes warning before she was within view.

The alarm came just as Edward turned a corner that blocked the entrance to the car park from his vision. He froze, torn over what he should do next. Alice slowed down beside him and tried not to appear confused, but failing.

"What's the matter?" she asked, apparently concluding that Edward was not going to explain.

Edward didn't reply, but his body made his decision for him. Doubling back, he stole a peek around the building. Perfectly timed, Edward caught Bella Swan as she passed between cars, so he was awarded a full view of what she looked like today.

Despite the fact that it was dry, Bella had the hood of her parka pulled up over her head, but a few dark hairs escaped beneath it. From what Edward could see, she was wearing a pair black trousers, as casual as jeans, but they better highlighted how slim she was. Had she not been petite in her overall build, she might have looked unhealthy. She didn't, though. Edward thought she looked perfectly fine.

There was a crowd standing a short distance away from Bella and Edward recognized them as the same group Bella had spent lunch with. Mike Newton was watching her with interest, but he was not the only one.

A sly smile was twisting across the thin lips of Lauren Mallory, whose gaze was directed towards the immediate path of Bella's feet. She whispered something to Jessica Stanley, who followed her lead and stared at the ground right in front of Bella.

There was a small pothole, nothing really of consequence, but Edward noticed how frantic Bella's steps were and she didn't appear to be watching where she was going.

Suddenly, Edward was overcome by an urge to run over and prevent Bella from falling, and being humiliated in front of the only people she knew at the school. But she was too far away, and the slight pressure of Alice's hand on Edward's arm stopped him from moving more than an inch. He was forced to stand and watch as Bella approached the small hold in the tarmac.

Inevitably, her foot got caught and Bella stumbled, dropping the books she carried in her arms. The blush that Edward had witnessed yesterday returned to her cheeks as she hastily recovered her items and looked around the car park to gauge the reactions of her peers.

Lauren tried to look concerned, but she was obviously disappointed that Bella did not fall completely. Jessica did not look much different. The male members of the group seemed to care more, Mike Newton especially. He ran over to play the chivalrous gentleman and took Bella by her elbow while she steadied herself.

Then, unexpectedly, Bella swung her head around and without warning she was staring right at Edward, her brown eyes boring into his green ones. Her blush intensified, and like a deer caught in headlights, Edward was frozen, unable to move. Finally, in the last second before she turned away Edward pulled himself back behind the wall, where she could not see him.

"Shit," he exhaled, closing his eyes and hitting his head against the rough brick. He did not open them when Alice addressed him.

"You're going to have to be more subtle than that," she said in a matter-of-fact tone; she wasn't angry. Edward opened his eyes only to see her walking away. She had already made it clear that she did not have faith that he could win Bella over, and Edward was even beginning to doubt himself.

He shook his head and attempt to gather his thoughts. It was the second time in two days Bella had caused him to react in a way completely foreign. It seemed that any time he had contact with her, whether it be through conversation or with her eyes, Edward lost all sense of reason and his mind and body separated, each acting on their own.

Resolving to conquer this sensation before he reached Biology that afternoon, Edward allowed himself one last indulgence. Planning it more carefully this time, rather than being taken over by impulse, Edward slowly edged around the corner of the building. He lifted his eyes carefully and was relieved to see that no one was paying him any attention.

He observed the small group Bella was now a part of. Playing up to their roles as Bella's new friends, Lauren and Jessica were fussing over her, but, again, they were outdone by Mike, who was watching her like she was going to faint at any second.

It was amusing to watch Mike in his attempts to garner her attention. Every time he would try to hold her arm, Bella would shake him off. The agitation she felt was evident in her jerky movements, but she did not walk away. Edward could only see the back of her head as it shook, probably rejecting another offer of help.

The irrational Edward almost made another appearance as he took a step forward, but again he stopped himself. With more effort than he would willingly admit, Edward turned his back on the scene and walked towards his first class of the day.

For all it was worth, he may as well have stood in the car park for an extra hour, because no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't concentrate. The teacher droned on while his thoughts left the building.

By the end of class he concluded that the only reason he felt drawn to Bella in the car park was because he wanted to know what she looked like today, so nothing could surprise him in Biology. He also had a faint idea of what Alice's plans involved, or, more to the point, who. The last thing he remembered was Mike Newton telling Bella he was gay, and Edward resolved to pay him back for that little comment.

It felt like it took days, but lunch eventually came around. Edward made it to the cafeteria before Alice did and sat at their usual table. When she entered she was looking extremely pleased about something.

Seeing that look on her face prompted Edward to scan the room for Bella. He was surprised and disappointed to see she was sitting at the same table as yesterday. Looking at Alice's smiling face again, Edward was becoming confused.

"Hello, Edward. Having a nice day?" she said, taking up her usual spot beside him.

"Why are you so chirpy?" he asked suspiciously.

"I have information," Alice replied, that devilish glint in her eyes returning. Whatever she had heard evidently made her excited enough that she forgot to be angry at Edward. "Apparently, Bella isn't fitting in as well with her little lunch buddies as it looks." Edward casually swept the room with his eyes again, lingering for just one second longer on Bella's table. She looked as she had yesterday, and earlier: Uncomfortable.

"She doesn't actually look that happy," said Edward. Alice bobbed in her seat. There was absolutely nothing more annoying than when you had a headache and Alice was excited.

"I know." Her eyes lit up. "It's perfect. I was talking to Ben Cheney in Gym today, and he's having a party this weekend. I couldn't have planned it better!" Her squeal was so high-pitched that Edward winced away from it. "So, I think I've convinced him to invite Bella." She clapped her hands.

"What makes you think she'll go?" Alice's hands dropped to the table and she narrowed her eyes at Edward.

"There's no need to be so pessimistic about this," she said, her voice lowering to a normal pitch. "Why wouldn't she go? She's new, she needs to make an impression. She can't afford to turn down party invitations." Alice slumped slightly, and Edward felt bad for bringing her down, but there was a possibility that this just wouldn't work. They had to be realistic.

"Well, maybe she's not like most teenagers. Maybe she doesn't care about making an impression?" Edward did not say this to Alice, specifically, but more to himself. He was doing all he could to figure out as much about Bella as possible. Once he discovered that she _was_ just like every other teenager, the weird fascination she held over him would be broken. _She's a strawberry_, he told himself, _completely ordinary_.

"You think she's different."

The fact that this was a statement, rather than a question, stirred the remnants of the anger Edward had felt the night before. Alice was assuming things that were completely incorrect.

"I don't know her, Alice," he said, clenching his fist.

"So you've said," Alice said with an exasperated sigh, rolling her eyes.

"But I don't," he said forcefully. A junior boy from a table nearby looked at them nervously, so Edward lowered his voice. "I don't know her, it's the truth."

"I know it's the truth," she said, looking him square in the eye. "But it doesn't _mean_ anything."

Edward couldn't reply, he didn't have a response. Alice did not break eye contact for at least a minute, but when she did turn away Edward recognised the small curve of a triumphant smile.

"Besides," she began again, tracing the edge of her now half-eaten plate of spaghetti with her finger, "I was thinking that, if she thought you were going.... " She didn't finish her sentence, and Edward would not have let her anyway, but it was a clear sign of guilt.

Clearing his throat in an attempt to rid his voice of it's edge, Edward sat up in his seat. "What happened to 'You don't have to talk to her', or is that statement out of the window now?"

"Don't be difficult, Edward. We are both perfectly aware that you had no intentions of taking me up on that."

Edward chuckled, but when he really thought about what Alice was saying his face dropped.

"What makes you think I'd be a selling point for her?" he asked, trying not to sound as pathetic as he felt. He obviously didn't fool Alice, because she waited until he lifted his gaze from his shoes before answering him in a hushed voice.

"Just the fact that she's looked at you about twenty times in the last minute."

Without thinking about it, Edward snapped his head up and found himself, once again, eye-to-eye with Bella. She looked away immediately, hiding her face behind her hair. Her natural defense mechanism, Edward noted.

The time from then until the end of lunch was either moving too quickly, or too slowly, Edward couldn't decide which. The prospect of Biology was now as promising as it was daunting. It felt like so much had happened between yesterday and today, that all of a sudden it was the most important hour of Edward's life. He could not disappoint Alice, he had to impress Bella and he had to prove to himself that he was as unaffected by her as he was by the rest of the girls in Forks. The last goal, Edward was beginning to realize, was becoming increasingly more difficult.

Bella left just minutes before the bell rang, and Edward was not far behind her. Alice had issued one final warning about being careful, and it took all of Edward's willpower not to retaliate there and then. He would simply show her how careful he could be, and that would shut her up.

The desk was empty when Edward arrived to class, but Edward noticed that Mike Newton already seated. Who else would Bella be with? Taking his seat, Edward preceded to get his books out, when Bella finally entered.

He did not say anything to her when she initially sat down, and she did not make eye contact with him. Soon it became obvious that Bella was not going to speak first, so, when Mr. Banner set them questions, Edward made his move.

"Bella," Edward said tentatively. She jumped a little, but recovered and shifted in her seat so she could face him at a better angle. She did not say anything, but then again, Edward had not asked her a question. "I'm Edward Cullen." He contemplated holding out his hand for her to shake, but it didn't feel appropriate. "I didn't really get to introduce myself properly yesterday."

"Well, you already know my name, so I guess I really don't have much to say, then," she replied, a hint of pink coloring her face. She returned to the questions, but something in her tone of voice implied that the conversation wasn't over. Edward was glad of that.

"That's true," he smiled. Racking his brain, the most intelligent things he could come up with were mundane questions. However, he knew he had to say something, and so settled on the generic, "How do you like it in Forks?"

Bella's nose crinkled as she thought, displaying her true feelings. She was remained quiet as she thought of something positive to say. _Polite_, Edward thought to himself. "The people are pretty friendly."

"Really?" Edward did not mean to sound to surprised, but from what he had witnessed, not everyone was happy about Bella's arrival. She laughed at his doubting tone.

"Well, some of them," she said, looking in Mike's direction. "Really friendly." There was something sarcastic in the way she said it, implying just how friendly Mike was being. For some reason, this made Edward angry and he didn't trust himself to reply yet. "But, I suppose you might not expect that if you only know half of them." Bella said this so quietly that Edward had to lean in to hear her properly. She looked at him with her big, brown eyes and Edward found himself again momentarily caught off-guard as he registered what she'd implied.

"Only half of them," he repeated slowly, now noticing how close he had come to her, leaning in across the desk. Bella's eyes widened and the pink in her cheeks grew deeper. With a slight tilt of her head, she nodded, confirming that Edward had understood her meaning correctly.

"People talk," she stated, her voice still so quiet that Edward could not move away.

"Obviously." A flicker of fear crossed Bella's delicate features, and her lips pulled into a small frown. She thought she'd offended him. "Tell me what you've heard," Edward said with a smile, trying to ease the tension that was now thick between them.

Bella took a deep breath and eyed Edward carefully, as though trying to figure out what his motives were. He could not help but noticed that she paused for a split-second longer at his lips and tried desperately to repress a smile.

"I haven't heard much," she said, and Edward knew she was telling the truth. "Just the basics." A small laugh escaped her and she shrugged at Edward and then cocked her head to the side. "Do you not find it weird that I'm telling you this?"

"I'm trying not to think about it," he answered honestly. He had it worked out that, the less he thought about the conversation and analyzed everything, the more easily the words came to him. "So, what _are_ the basics?" He raised an eyebrow at her, eliciting a fresh blush.

"The Hales and the Cullens are enemies." She spoke in such a way that it was obvious that the words were not her own. Bella looked at Edward before she went on, "No one is friends with both families. You are either friends with one or the other. That's it."

Like the gay comment the day before, this was nothing new to Edward's ears. However, hearing it come from Bella, spoken in her voice, made him uneasy. He could not fathom why. Edward pulled away from her, straightening up in his chair. Bella's brows puckered and he felt bad for making her tell him and then making her uncomfortable about it. She sensed this discomfort and tried to lighten the mood.

"They even have teams." She grimaced as she said this and shook her head so her hair fell down her back. The smell of strawberries assaulted Edward's nose. "Team Hale and team Cullen. I would have thought that you'd have known."

In an uncharacteristic display on confidence, Edward lowered his head so that his eyes were level with hers. He stared right into the centre of her eyes, past his own reflection and back into hers again. "And what team are you on?" he said softly. Bella gaped at him. Edward took some twisted satisfaction in the fact that he could reduce her to the same state of incoherency that he had found himself in yesterday. He did not relent in his stare and refused to let her go without an answer.

"I- I'm not sure yet," she mumbled quickly, blushing furiously and turning towards her work again. She gripped her pen and hunched her shoulders, like she was protecting herself against Edward. He knew he should have let her be, but something was spurring him on. Edward was also aware that Mike Newton had been observing their little exchange was was apparently horrified by it.

"You have to chose, Bella," Edward said in a dangerously sultry voice. He did not know where it came from, but he knew he'd have to reign it in. Bella shivered. A sudden desire to reach out and touch her threatened to take hold of Edward. He clenched his fists to stop himself and took a deep breath. He regained control of himself in the only way he knew how at the moment: reminding himself of her purpose. "Beside, I'd thought you'd already picked your side."

Bella reacted to the drastic change in his tone by whipping her head around to see if it really was still Edward sitting there. Anticipating this action, Edward held his breath. Now, with her attention on him, he looked pointedly in Mike's direction. Bella followed his lead, and her lips parted into an understanding 'o'.

"Then why are you still talking to me?"

And she'd done it again. Bella Swan had demonstrated perfectly her ability to render Edward speechless. Evidently, she found something about this amusing, for she smirked at him, biting her bottom lip in the most adorable way.

"Look," she said, "I don't really buy into this High School drama stuff. I saw it back in Phoenix, and I can see it here, but I've never gotten myself involved. I don't see how my decision can really matter to anybody, so I'm just going to stay neutral." It all seemed to simple when she explained that Edward began to doubt the whole reasoning behind the epic division.

Bella's eyes lingered playfully on his, and that inexplicable confidence returned.

"Then come to Ben Cheney's party with me this weekend," Edward heard himself say.

For a second, Bella looked terrified and Edward's confidence wavered. She seemed hesitant, but Edward knew she was too polite to reject him.

"Sure." Her bit her lip again and grinned up at Edward, the almost permanent blush in her cheeks deepening. Edward felt himself smile back.

Alice was going to kill him.

**End of Chapter 4.**


	6. Chapter 5

_Thanks again to every who read and reviewed. :)_

_I'm trying to get these updates up on Mondays, but it depends of the validation time over at Twilighted. It's taking longer this week, so I'm just going to post here first in case it takes another while. I wouldn't want to deprive any of you. lol Anyway, next week I'm away, so I don't think I'll be able to update. I may get it up another day, maybe not. If anyone goes over to the Twilighted thread, I'll post teasers and try and keep people updated on where there chapter is. _

_Everything Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer. _

**Chapter 5**

Having lived with Rosalie all his life, Jasper was not easily scared by her. If he saw her temper rising, he would avoid her, or find a way to subdue her. Emmett helped. Despite what people might think, she was not all that frightening.

Usually.

"What the _fuck_, Jasper. How could you let this happen? You're a fucking idiot, you know that?"

Now, Jasper was cowering in the corner of their living room, as far away from Rosalie as he could get. There was every chance she would start to throw things.

Her face was contorted in her anger, turned red from her screaming, and her hair was unravelling. This was how Jasper knew he was in some serious shit: Once Rosalie stopped caring about her appearance, there was no hope.

He had spotted the signs on the way home from school. Rosalie kept quiet at the wheel, which was unnerving enough in its own right. Her movements were jerky as she veered between the lanes, ignoring the speed limits. Her red lips had been pursed so tightly that lines began to form in her lipstick. However, the real deal-breaker was when she left off Emmett before driving home again.

"Good luck," he'd laughed, before Rosalie give him a cool goodbye and he left the car.

Jasper had half expected her to explain what was wrong when they were alone, but Rosalie maintained the silence, which quickly became torturous. It would not have been so unbearable had he known exactly what Rosalie was so mad about. They had been sitting beside each other less than twenty minutes ago in class, and she had been completely normal.

Something must have happened when she went to the bathroom, leaving Jasper's side for little more than a few minutes, before meeting him at the car. Since then, not one word had come from her.

They had entered the house quietly. Rosalie's heels felt intrusive as the sound of them hitting the hard tiles in their kitchen echoed off the walls. Following close behind her, she caught Jasper off guard by suddenly flinging her bag onto the table and spinning around to glare at him. She placed on hand on her hip and the other rested on the post of one of the wooden chairs.

"Is there something wrong with you?" she asked. The calm in her voice would have fooled someone who knew her less than Jasper. He just waited for the storm to hit.

"What are-"

"Do you know where Bella Swan is going this Saturday?" Her voice was still deceptively even, but her foot began to tap rapidly. From the way she was staring at him, Jasper felt as though he should know what she was talking about, but he genuinely had no idea.

"Where?" he asked. Rosalie took her time answering, but her actions spoke louder than anything she could have told him. Her nostrils flared as her fury built and she folded her arms across her chest in a fast, uneasy movement. Dread stirred in the pit of Jasper's stomach. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes, not opening them when she finally spoke.

"Ben Cheney's party." Each word dropped like a hammer, and reverberated around Jasper's head like the sound of Rosalie's shoes had done against the kitchen walls. She lifted her lids slowly, the full force of her glower unleashed on Jasper. At that moment, he felt like an 8-year-old who had broken his mother's favorite vase.

"How... Who... What?" he stuttered. He could have been knocked over with a feather. Finally, his sense came back to him. "You must be mistaken," he told her, shaking his head. "There's no way she would go, no way anyone would invite her. It's just not possible-"

"Then tell me why I heard Angela Webber talking about it in the toilets?" she interrupted. "Ranting and raving about how _Edward Cullen-_"

"No," Jasper muttered in absolute denial. "Even he wouldn't do that."

Rosalie raised a mocking eyebrow at him. "Do you really think those Cullens are above anything? Of _course_ they would do that!" She was almost laughing.

"So, are you telling me that he... ." Jasper trailed off, not even considering the possibilities.

"Invited her to go to this party with him? Yes, Jasper, that is exactly what he did."

Jasper stood dumb as his brain processed what Rosalie was telling him. He couldn't believe that it was possible, but he'd never had reason to doubt his sister before. Even so, he still didn't understand why it made her so angry at _him_.

"And you,"- here it comes- "you were so fucking cocky about it."

Again, she pursed her lips, almost to the point it looked painful. She took slow, purposeful steps towards Jasper. He took quick, purposeful steps in the opposite direction.

"I cannot believe you let this happen," she seethed.

"Rosalie," he tried to reason, holding his hands up in front of him and stopping, "I didn't even know this was going on. How was I supposed to know this was going on. Hell if I understand how Cullen's mind works!"

She halted in her advance, throwing her arms down by her sides and balling her hands into fists. "_You_ said you had it all under control. _You_ told me that you knew everything about her, who she was becoming friendly with, what she likes, what she doesn't. _You_ said it was a done deal." With every sentence she inched closer to him, but Jasper had no room left to maneuver around her.

He didn't enjoy this feeling; being scared, retreating. However, he could not blame Rosalie for her anger. They both knew how important this was, and Jasper had let her down, out of pure laziness. It was true that he'd promised Rosalie that Bella was as good as theirs, better, in fact, but that was because he believed it himself. As a consequence, Jasper had not bothered to follow up on her.

It was one of those rare days when Jasper's confidence came back and bit him on the ass.

Rosalie continued her tirade, moving from one room to another, completely unrelenting. With every pitiful attempt at defense Jasper made, Rosalie would fire back at him. Eventually, he succumbed to fact that resistance was futile, and he let his sister unleash the full force of her fury.

Once every profanity had been used, and every insult at been hurled, Rosalie sank into a chair and ran her hand through her now messy hair.

"You're going to have to fix this," she stated, her voice still shaking with anger, but now noticeably lower in volume.

"I will." Jasper perched on the armrest of the chair Rosalie occupied. Tentatively, he placed a hand on her shoulder and began to rub slow circles. He could feel her relaxing. They sat like this in silence for a while, Jasper was not sure of the exact time. "Want me to call Emmett?" he asked, removing his hand from Rosalie's back.

She inhaled deeply and shook out her hair. "No, no," she said, raising to her feet. "I'll do it."

Rosalie left the room, so Jasper took up her place in the chair. He listened to the sounds of a brief phone call, and then Rosalie shouting that she was going to Emmett's. The crunch of her tires from outside alerted Jasper to the fact that he was now alone. His parents wouldn't be home for another hour; that gave him plenty of time to figure out his next move.

From the information Rosalie had given him, or shouted at him, Jasper knew that there was some serious damage control to be done. However, his main obstacle was not simply regaining Bella's favor, but doing so under the radar. To Jasper, there was nothing more unattractive than desperation - which was probably the reason most of the girls in school didn't appeal to him - and he would never lower himself to that level.

Within the brief hour he had to himself, Jasper constructed a game plan. Something much more stealthy and foolproof than what he'd had the day before. In addition to a more detailed and strategic offense, Jasper had now planned a sufficient defense to keep their asses covered from another attack from Camp Cullen.

Judging from the overt and simple manner in which Edward had gone about romancing Bella, he was not the main problem. Alice was.

Jasper was under no illusions that Alice had no part to play in what was going on. What unnerved him was that he didn't know exactly what she _did_ have a part in.

He had always noticed that there was something off about her. She rarely socialized, yet many girls idolized her. She never made an obvious attempt to undermine Rosalie, but she had done it, and made it look effortless. Jasper assumed that she was like a swan; peddling furiously beneath the surface, but maintaining an effortless grace to the visible world.

But she had to have a weakness, and Jasper would find it, then exploit it.

By the time his parents arrived home, Jasper had already made a few calls and set his plans into motion. His dad threw a chinese takeaway on the table and Jasper helped himself. He carried his dish upstairs, claiming that he had to finish his homework.

He rang Rosalie once he was hidden safely in his room. Rosalie and Jaspers' parent had an idealized view of their children. While they weren't bad parents, they mainly operated on the view that what they didn't know couldn't hurt them. Just as long as their children kept out of jail and were shipped off to an ivy league college, they were happy.

The ring rang a few times before his sister picked up. Jasper had trained his brain to never try to guess what she had been doing beforehand where Emmett was concerned.

"What?" The irritation in her voice travelled through the line. Earlier, Jasper would have winced at the sound, but now, with a plan and more confidence, he didn't flinch.

"Put Emmett on," he ordered. Some shuffling came from the other end, but it was Rose's still voice that he heard.

"You're on speaker," she said. Jasper sighed audibly.

"Do you really not trust me?" he asked.

"Not one bit." He would have argued, but she had a point.

"Hey, Jazz. So you survived the wrath of Rosalie?" Emmett chuckled. "Ow," he added, evidently, Rosalie had retaliated physically against his remark. They mumbled a few sentences to one another and laughed, before Jasper interrupted.

"Look, I'll leave you both to go back to... whatever you were doing"- Emmett muttered something else and laughed loudly- "just listen to me for a few minutes."

"This better be good," Rosalie warned.

"Rose, I didn't even want you included in this part of the plan, so shut the hell up or pass the phone to Emmett." Jasper was pretty sure of his plan, and did not appreciate Rosalie knocking him. Evidently, she had said all she needed to anyway, for silence fell on the other end of the line.

"What's up?" Emmett's more confident, reassuring voice hit Jasper's ear. Jasper smiled, imagining Emmett's reaction his proposition. He waited a couple of prolonged, deliberate seconds, allowing sufficient suspense to gather.

"How do feel about crashing a little party this Saturday?" Quickly, Jasper held the phone from his ear.

"HELL YEAH!" Emmett bellowed, his booming laugh followed. "You know how long I've been waiting to hear you say that?" Jasper laughed along with his friend. However, their joy was cut short as Rosalie's sharp tone cut through the laughter.

"And how is that going to help us, Jasper?"

"Come on, Rose," Emmett pleaded on the other side. "It'll be _fun_. Let's show those Cullen twats how to have a good time."

"Seriously, we've messed this up enough as it is-"

"Exactly," Jasper interrupted her, "and now I'm going to fix it."

"But it's so _obvious_." She did not go to any pains to disguise how stupid she thought this was. In the background he could hear Emmett planning already.

"So, I've got one keg in the jeep. I could easily get two more by Saturday, if we drive up to Post Angeles. Tequila... Tequila! Rose, do you have that bottle from-"

"Emmett, I am not bringing that to this so called 'party'. We're not going," she said in her resolute, motherly voice. She didn't sound like she could be persuaded, but Jasper knew he could do it.

"This is only one part in the grand scheme of things. We're just going to do a little mole work, upset the group. Hell, if we bring enough people, this could actually turn out to be a good night." He may have been imagining it, but Jasper could almost hear the cogs turning in Rosalie's head.

"So you're not going to make a move on Bella?" she asked.

"No, not unless an easy opportunity arises. You know I'd never be that obvious. I just want to suss out how much damage is already done." he assured her.

Rosalie sighed loudly. "We'll think about it, and I'll talk to you later," she eventually conceded.

Jasper agreed and hung up, but not before an enthusiastic Emmett yelled "Keg stand!" into the mouthpiece.

Although he knew he would have to keep a steady head on himself, and Rosalie would undoubtedly remind him the same, the prospect of some weekend entertainment excited Jasper. It had been a while since he'd slummed it with the best of the Forks high schoolers, and they were always good for a laugh.

Tomorrow was Friday, which meant that he only had one whole day to get enough people rallied up to make this a successful crash, but making sure that no one actually invited to the party got wind of it, especially Ben, or the Cullens.

When Rosalie returned, she had been convinced by Emmett to attend the party. Jasper reiterated his intentions for the evening in a little more detail. He asked her to tell him everything she'd heard about the party, too. She became less and less skeptical when she saw how throughly he'd thought this through. Impressed with what she'd heard, Rosalie hovered at the door, asking one final question.

"Is Alice Cullen going?"

"My guess is as good as yours," Jasper replied honestly. She nodded in acceptance and disappeared from his door.

"I'm not wearing anything expensive," she called out to him. "They aren't worth it."

"Rosalie, I couldn't give a rat's ass what you wear," Jasper mumbled to himself, shutting off the light at his desk.

*******

The next day passed without much happening. As discussed, Rosalie had suggested the plan to Tyler Crowley in Gym, to test people's reactions. When he agreed wholeheartedly, Rosalie instructed him to spread the word, but to keep it quiet. From the buzz surrounding the cafeteria at lunch, and the relaxed looks on the faces of the Cullens and Ben Cheney, their plan had been successful.

However, the most difficult part was ensuring that Bella did not find out. Rosalie had stressed this point to Tyler, and he seemed to have done his part well. At their table, Lauren Mallory kept shooting satisfied smirks in Bella's direction, flicking her eyes occasionally in Edward Cullen's direction. Mike Newton was doing the same, a content smile on his own face. He was talking animatedly to Bella, but she had a look of oblivious innocence on her face, showing Mike wanted this to be as much of a surprise as Jasper did. They both obviously felt pleased that they were spoiling Edward and Bellas' date. Jasper couldn't say that he felt much different.

The car ride home that day was much more cheerful than yesterday. So much so, that Jasper only felt a little worried about what had passed today between Edward and Bella in their fateful Biology class.

On their way out of the car park, they received a number of discreet thumbs up from fellow students. The smiles on their faces betrayed just how thrilled they were to be included in a plan that involved himself and Rosalie.

It was times like this when Jasper felt positive that the Hales would always be the greatest family to ever pass through Forks High School, and the legacy that they left behind would outshine that of any other family.

**End of Chapter 5**


	7. Chapter 6

_Hey guys, sorry it's been so long since the last chapter! I've just been so busy that I haven't had nearly as much time to write as I would have liked. Anyway, it shouldn't happen again, and the chapter's here now. I hope you like it. _

_I haven't had much time to reply to reviews either, but I can do that later. Thanks for everyone who left a review, they really make my day. _

_Everything Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer._

**Chapter 6**

"Are you sure you want to come to this?" Edward sat nervously in the passenger seat of Alice's car, thumbing the corner of his leather jacket. "This isn't the kind of thing you usually like, and I don't need a babysitter."

He turned his head quickly to read her profile. An eyebrow was raised in skepticism, and Alice's voice was laden with sarcasm when it filled the silence.

"Really, Edward? You don't need to be looked after?" She took a quick left and pulled to a halt in a street Edward did not recognize. It was too quiet to be the place of the party, and Edward knew instinctively that he should have kept his mouth shut. Alice twisted in her seat to stare him down properly. "Then tell me again _how_ we landed ourselves in this situation? If I can recall correctly, which I know I can, it was you. You, and your reckless behavior. What part of 'be careful' do you not understand?"

"I _am_ being careful," Edward argued quite pathetically. Alice narrowed her eyes at him. "I told her to meet me there; it's not a formal date. I just thought we needed to pick up the pace a little bit. Besides, I thought you wanted her to go to this party."

They had had this same fight numerous times since the day Edward had invited Bella. No matter what Alice told him, he still felt that his actions were justified. From what he understood of women, particularly young women, they were fickle. If he waited around too long, he would, they would, miss their chance with Bella. Then they'd be forced to sit and watch while the Hales swooped in like vultures and claimed their victim.

Edward had used this as his main battle point, but Alice refused to accept it. She was not angry with him, just frustrated, and it showed in how she treated him. Every time he brought the party up, or asked for her advice on how to handle it, she would just shake her head and sigh loudly. However, she never failed to answer his questions.

"So, you are not only being idiotic, but unchivalrous too. My, Edward, you really have outdone yourself."

Choosing to ignore her comment and save his energy for later that night, Edward turned to look out the window and squinted down the street.

"This can't be where the party is," he said. Alice shifted the car into gear and fired up the engine again. "Do you know where Ben's house is?"

"Of course," she said curtly. Still convinced they were going in the wrong direction, Edward decided to stay silent as they rolled along the street, towards the darkness.

Eventually, the low thumping of music travelled through the ground as they drove closer to a lit-up house. From a distance away, Edward could see indistinct figures covering the front lawn. Some were walking towards the door, while others huddled in groups.

Slowing the speed of the car, Alice drove past the house and parked a little further down the street. She was quiet, and Edward knew she was silently gloating. So he didn't know where Ben Cheney lived and she did? He wasn't a stalker.

"Ready?" Alice asked, unbuckling her seatbelt.

"What's there to be ready for?" Edward said with a forced confidence. The nervousness that had been noticeably present for the last 10 hours in his stomach was stirring. He was thankful that he'd only had a light dinner. Alice gave him a once over and raised her eyebrow. "It's just a party, right?"

"Okay, then. Let's go."

Alice's heels kept a steady rhythm on the pavement, which Edward could feel pounding beneath his feet. The noise from the house was much louder now that they were outside the shield of their car. The other houses around him looked relatively quiet; obviously they were unperturbed by the party.

They soon stepped out of the protective darkness and into the seemingly obtrusive light that was being cast from the windows and doors of the house. Upon closer inspection, Edward saw that the building was much more populated that he had imagined. Many of the crowds on the lawn consisted of faces Edward recognized, but did not know. In the hands of these people were the stereotypical red cups that Edward had never believed actually accompanied these types of parties. A few of these same cups were strewn across the lawn. It then dawned on Edward how completely out of his element he was.

Alice, on the other hand, looked unfazed as she strolled towards the front door, stepping casually over the plastic litter and ignoring the quizzical stares and cat calls. Doing his best to keep up with her, Edward lengthened his strides. He could feel the beginnings of a cool sweat on his forehead, and he wasn't entirely sure that this had anything to do with the increase in pace.

"Can you see her?" Alice said once they reached what Edward assumed was the main party room. A huge, black speaker sat in the corner, visibly shaking as a song Edward vaguely recognized played. Some people in the room were dancing, others spectating and more holding shouting matches of conversations. Edward scanned the crowd, but he could not see Bella anywhere. He began to doubt whether or not she'd show up.

"Alice, Edward!" someone shouted from behind them. Ben was walking towards them, cup in hand. "Glad you guys could come. Here, come with me and we'll get you some drinks."

Whatever Ben would offer them, Edward was sure it was the same thing that was giving the host his extra confidence as he lead them through the crowds. Ben had always been friendly. Friendly and shy. Now, he was making loud small talk with Alice as he navigated them. Edward tired listening to their conversation, but his mind, and eyes, were focussed on other things.

No matter where he looked, he could not locate that familiar brown hair. Edward was beginning to get seriously worried. What if she didn't come? What if she couldn't? What if something had happened to her on the way over?

"So, yeah, a much bigger turnout than I expected. As long as the house isn't trashed, I don't care-"

"Sorry, Ben," Edward interrupted him, "but has Bella Swan arrived yet?"

"Oh, Bella?" Ben winked at Edward and nudged Alice. Definitely under the influence of some sort of alcohol, and too much of it. "I heard you were meeting her here. She's, eh, I think-" his hesitation was not helping the nausea Edward was feeling- "Oh, the last time I saw her she was in the kitchen with Angela. She's probably still there."

He kept talking, but Edward had tuned out again. She'd come. She was talking to Angela... . For the first time Edward realized that he was the only person Bella knew who was coming to the party. He wished he had thought of this before, and planned his arrival earlier.

The crowd thinned slightly, as Ben took them through a doorway into the brightly lit kitchen. On a counter in the middle sat all of the drinks, and this was where Ben brought them first. He mixed Alice her drink and handed Edward his preferred beer.

It only took one scan of the room to spot Bella. She was leaning against a counter, holding a cup of her own which she was tracing along the top of with her free hand. Her hair fell straight past her shoulders, one side tucked behind her ear. Even from quite far away, Edward noticed that she was wearing make-up, and until he observed the difference, he hadn't realized that she didn't wear any in school. Her brown eyes were framed by even darker lashes than usual, and her cheeks were slightly more pink.

Ben has been right in his guess, as Angela stood beside Bella. With an internal sigh of relief, Edward could easily see that the conversation between them was flowing easily.

"Hurry up and introduce me," Alice muttered from beside him, beaming. With a small hand, she pushed him forwards. Ben was already at his girlfriend's side.

"Hello, Angela, Bella," Edward said, smiling at them. Angela giggled and Ben drew her closer to him.

"Hey," Angela said to both Edward and Alice. "Did you just get here?"

"Yep, we just arrived," Alice answered. "You look lovely, Angela. So do you, Bella." Alice extended her hand to her and Edward inwardly groaned. "I don't believe we've been properly introduced." Bella accepted Alice's hand somewhat tentatively and simply smiled. "I've heard so much about the new girl in town."

"Thanks, I think," Bella said in return. "Everyone here's been so welcoming. I was pretty surprised. I thought people usually didn't like the new kids."

Alice raised her eyebrows slightly and her smile thinned. "You must be the exception," she said, somewhat coldly.

She took a big swig from her cup and looked at Edward from the corner of her eyes. This did not go unnoticed by Bella. Both Ben and Angela were oblivious to any conversation going on around them, focussed only on each other.

"Yes, she must be," Edward said quickly, if only to avoid the awkward silence which threatened to envelop them. "Bella," he said, turning his attention to her, "I hope you haven't been here too long."

"Just a while. Don't worry about it, though, Angela and Ben have been really sweet." The genuine smile on Bella's face appeared to be of some consolation to Alice, for her shoulder's relaxed and her grip on her cup loosened.

Once Alice began to talk again, they slipped into easy conversation. It pleased and surprised Edward to see how well Alice and Bella got on. However, at the same time, it troubled him. Alice could be charming when she wanted to be, and Edward knew this was exactly what she was doing right now; charming Bella. Another reminder that this was little more than a game to Alice, and that it should be the same way for him.

For the past few nights, Edward had been unable to keep his thoughts from Bella. He had envisioned how this party would go. The worst case scenario, right up to the best. However, he was not sure what he wanted from this.

Every time Alice met his eye, a surge of guilt would pass through him. She was a constant and physical reminder of the root of Edward's motives. When he thought of that, Edward almost wished that Bella decide herself to walk away from him, he wished that she would find him so utterly boring and stiff that she simply didn't want to spend any more time with him.

Because he couldn't stand the thought of getting closer to her, knowing her, becoming involved with her, only for someone to reveal to her the true ugliness of his thoughts. Or worse, for Bella to discover it herself. Edward didn't think he could handle watching her shrink away from him in disgust.

In theory, pulling away from her shouldn't have been hard. Edward barely knew Bella, and they never associated with each other outside the protective confines of the Biology lab. Until now, when she stood in front of him. It was now Edward found himself laughing along with her, engaging her in conversation, allowing himself to be totally captivated by her. He watched as she joked with Alice, her eyes dancing, her straight hair falling to her shoulders, her pale skin luminous against the green sweater she wore, and all thoughts of him walking away were abolished.

"Oh, I love this song!" Alice suddenly exclaimed. "Please, come dance." She looked imploringly at Bella. It was a side of Alice Edward rarely saw; social Alice. She was jumping up and down slightly, a possible side effect of her drink, to the music. "Please."

"Alice, I don't think that's the best idea," Bella said, but it was too late. Alice had already grabbed her by the hand and was pulling her towards the music before her protests could have any effect. When she quickly turned to look at Edward, her eyes were wide and full of an unreasonable fear. In a surprise move, she reached out and grabbed Edward's hand, dragging him along with them.

Momentarily stunned, Edward had no opportunity to fight against her pull. He instinctively took her hand tighter in his.

As Alice fought her way through the dancing crowds, trying to find enough room to move, Edward moved closer to Bella, shielding her from the drunken, groping hands of the boys surrounding them. With one final lurch into through the wall of bodies, Alice miraculously found an air pocket. She released Bella from her grasp and started moving to the beat.

Belle stared in what looked like a mixture of awe and horror, her body frozen.

"What's the matter?" Edward said, leaning close to her ear so she could hear him. It was the closest her had been to her all night, and he caught the scent of her hair as it tickled his nose. He then remembered that they were still holding hands. Without thinking about it, he moved his thumb in slow circles against her skin, as though gently trying to bring her out of her daze.

This seemed to work, and Bella blinked a few times before tilting her head towards Edward to answer his question.

"I don't dance." She said those three words and Edward was lost to her. When she'd spoken, her lips were so close to his own that he could practically taste her breath. It was impossible that she had not felt it too; the spark, of raw, dangerous electricity that shot through the small distance between them.

Edward tried to subdue his heavy breathing as he followed her eyes as they moved from his shoulder, to his lips, then eventually, to his eyes. They were wide and expressive, but Edward was too far gone to have any hope of reading them. His focus moved to her lips, slightly open, inviting; her exposed collarbone, rising and falling with her breath; her hips, which inched closer to him.

In that one, fleeting moment, Edward knew for certain Bella was as hopeless as he was. He moved slowly, taking her other hand in his. When she laced her fingers through his without protest, his heart rate doubled and he rejoiced inside. He pulled her closer.

"Edward," a voice someone close to him spoke. He refused to answer it, to give it the satisfaction of a reply. He was too wrapped up in Bella.

But Bella had heard it. She registered the urgency in the voice. She responded by pulling away from him, releasing his hands.

Then, just as quickly it had come on, the magic that had held them so close in the last few seconds dissipated, and Edward found himself looking into Bella's eyes from a much greater distance.

"Edward?" The voice Edward had heard called for his attention again, and he realized that it was Alice. He felt her hand on his arm, shaking him.

"What?" he said, doing his best to mask the vicious and unreasonable anger he felt her towards her right then. He doubted it would impress Bella. Alice, who had first been staring at him with apologetic eyes, marked the ire in his voice and glared at him, dropping his arm.

"Ben needs your help, we have some crashers," she told him. As if she had slapped him across the face and woken him up, Edward suddenly understood what was going on. In fact, he was willing to bet his right arm that it wasn't just a random crowd of juniors who decided to try their luck. No, he knew that the Hales were behind this.

Alice had not waited for him to react, but was now storming ahead, forging a path through which Edward could follow. Had he still be living in the moment less than a minute ago, Edward would have taken Bella by the hand so that she stayed close to him. However, he was now firmly in the present, and so, he just silently gestured for her to follow.

Before they even reached the door, signs of the crashers were evident. A keg was being carried towards the kitchen and a fresh influx of people Edward didn't recognize were flooding through the door. Many of them looked too old to still be in high school. Edward knew he was about to meet Emmett McCartey's infamous college friends.

Alice was trying to spur a bewildered looking Ben into action, while Angela stood by, looking terrified, watching as the hoards of people push past her.

"Edward, help!" Alice said when she saw that he was behind her. Edward barely had time to think when an unwelcome voice met his ears.

"Well, well, this is quite the party." Rosalie Hale stood by the door, flanked by Emmett and Jasper.

"What the hell are you doing here." Alice left Ben's side and shoved past Edward.

Before Rosalie could reply, another set of voices Edward recognized came into earshot.

"Oh my god, Bella!" Jessica Stanley squealed. "What are you doing here?" She ran through the door, stumbling on the carpet. It was clear she was already intoxicated, and the sight was repulsive. As she moved towards Bella, Edward quickly took a step to his right, placing himself in between the two bodies.

He had not even thought of his action until it was already executed. Alice narrowed her eyes at him, as did Jasper, but playing across Rosalie's face was that familiar, evil smirk. Jasper's soon matched hers. Jessica, on the other hand, seemed unperturbed.

"Oh! Hello, _Edward_," she said, placing heavy emphasis on his name. He assumed that drop her in voice was her attempt at playing seductress. "I didn't know you would be here." His previous assessment seemed to be confirmed, as she batted her heavily coated eyelashes at him in such an obvious manner that Edward could not imagine any man on earth finding it attractive.

"_Jessica_," Lauren Mallory sang as she sauntered through the door, Mike Newton in tow, "leave some of him for the rest of us." She glided past them both, winking at Edward as she went. Mike gripped onto her hand like it was his ticket to the moon. From the way she swayed her hips, and the way he was mesmerized by them, Edward guessed that it would be his ticket to _somethin_g tonight.

With Jessica's focus broken, Edward pushed the hand she'd laid on his chest away, and she walked blindly in the direction her friends has just gone.

"I hope you don't mind," Jasper said, lifting a cocky eyebrow, "but we brought a few friends."

"You have no fucking right-" Alice began, but Jasper cut her off.

"Hey, we just came here to have a little fun." He raised his hands up in mock surrender. "We're just looking for a good time," he said, looking through Edward and in Bella's direction. He began to move towards her, and Edward immediately squared up to him. Folding his arms across his chest, Edward was determined to keep this creep away from Bella.

"Get the fuck out, Hale," Edward seethed. His anger had increased by a hundredfold in the last couple of seconds.

"What's with all the hostility?" Jasper again adopted his false innocence. Instead of looking past Edward, he moved, so he stood right in front of Bella. "I hope this isn't the same welcome they've shown you. If so, then I'm sure we can offer you something different."

Edward clenched his fists, ready to strike, but Bella did not look frightened. This only made Edward more angry.

"Hale, I swear, if you don't pack up your little cronies right now and-"

Jasper turned himself slowly, a smug smile on his face. "What are you going to do, Cullen? Force us to leave?"

Edward felt rather than saw Emmett move behind him. No matter what he did, he was outnumbered. Ben, obviously unwilling for a fight to a break out in his house, stepped forward for the first time.

"Look, you can stay, but only if you don't... wreck the place," he said, grimacing, no doubt, at the thought of his house being trashed.

"Works for us," Rosalie said, breezing past Alice's shoulder. "Come on, Emmet, we have a keg to empty."

Both Jasper and Emmett joined her and they disappeared from their sight. Edward got a full glance of Bella for the first time since he'd been forced away from her so many minutes ago. It felt like much longer. She didn't look as shocked as he expected her to be, and his idea of offering to drive her home seemed redundant.

"Ben, if you want, we can call the cops or something," Alice suggested. "They shouldn't be here."

"Alice, nobody should be here," Edward said. "Even without the keg they brought, there was still enough drink her to supply the whole student body. The cops would not be a good idea."

"Definitely not," Bella added, moving beside Angela. "Look, maybe it won't be so bad. I know some of these people, and they're decent." She looked so hopeful and genuine that Edward really wanted to believe her, but he just could not trust anything that involved the Hales. This could not end well. "Let's just relax."

Alice seemed to read his train of thought and gave him a stern look, as if she was mentally willing him to keep his mouth shut.

"Yeah, you're right, Bella," she said. "Let's not get worked up about this when nothing bad has happened."

_Yet_, Edward added to himself. As he scanned the now packed house, a sense of dread began to stir in the pit of his stomach. He watched as Bella pulled Angela towards the dance floor, laughing and trying to lighten the mood. Ben was close behind them. Before she disappeared from view, she threw a reassuring smile in Edward's direction.

"Edward, can you come upstairs for a moment?" Alice said to him. He walked up after her without a word and went with her as she entered a dark room. Flicking on the light, she turned to face him, the anger Edward had expected dancing in her eyes. "What are we going to do?"

"I don't know," he answered, "maybe we should just let them be. Ben didn't seem to mind."

"That's not what I'm talking about."

Edward stared at her, confused. "The Hales? What else-"

"Bella." Shocked, Edward could not even bring himself to respond. "What is going on between you two?" Alice continued.

"I've told you before. Nothing," he said.

"Don't try and feed me that shit, Edward. I saw what I interrupted down there." She placed her hands on her hips and stared him down. "Look, I don't care if you like her. Hell, I like her! But you'd better fucking grow a pair and admit it to yourself, because Jasper Hale knows it too, and he _will_ use it against you." With that, she stormed past him and out the door.

The muffled sounds of cheering floated up from down stairs, and, remembering the look on Jasper's face as he stared at Bella, Edward forced himself to return to the chaos with only one motive in mind; to keep Jasper Hale as far away from Bella as possible.

**End of Chapter 6.**


	8. Chapter 7

_Hey guys, it's the next chapter! Hope you like it, let me if you do, and let me know if you don't. :) Thanks for everyone who reviewed. _

_This is probably where we less the less evil side of some characters...._

_Stephenie Meyer owns everything Twilight_

**Chapter 7**

Jasper couldn't help but feel extremely pleased with himself as he watched the alcohol infused crowds pulse through the house. His plan had been carried off without a hitch, and the look on the Cullens' faces made it all worth it. He'd been at the party for less than an hour, and he'd already met the goals he set for himself. Taking another swig from his bottle, Jasper knew he had a ridiculous grin plastered on his face. To anyone observing him, they would probably assume that he had drank may more beers than he had.

As he walked down the hall towards the kitchen, he noted that he hadn't seen the Cullens since their stand-off by the door. On his way, he stopped briefly to take a vase off a table, right before on of Emmett's larger friends collided with it. His original plan had been to wreck the place, but since Cheney had been so hospitable, he would have felt guilty following through. Besides, Jasper already had what he wanted.

"Hey, you better watch some of the stuff you got here," Jasper said to Ben, handing him the vase. Ben thanked him and put the vase in a cupboard, before stumbling into his girlfriend's arms.

Looking around to see who else was in the kitchen, Jasper's eyes fell on a figure by the door. She was facing away from him, watching people dance in another room. Her recognized her instantly.

Draining his beer, he made his way over to her, checking as he went for any sign of the Cullens. He already knew where Rosalie was. When he last saw her dancing with Emmett, it didn't look like she'd be slowing down any time soon.

"You don't look like you're having much fun," he said to Bella when he finally reached her. She jumped at his voice, and she looked surprised when she turned around to see him standing behind her. She eyed him cautiously, making Jasper feel uneasy. After assessing him, she settled on looking uncomfortable. "I don't bite, you know," Jasper said after a few moments of awkward silence.

"I didn't think you did," Bella said in reply, still looking uncomfortable. "I was just wondering why you came here. This isn't really your crowd." Just as he was beginning to regret coming over here to talk to her, Bella smiled.

Jasper returned the grin, relieved that she had a sense of humor. At least this wasn't going to be boring. "I didn't think this was your crowd either. I believe I was the one who brought your friends." When he said this, he cocked his head towards the room they were standing outside. Within, Mike Newton and Lauren Mallory were welded together on the couch, while Jessica Stanley and a few others danced awkwardly to the music that was still blaring from the main room. Jasper could only guess that the way Jessica was letting her tongue hand from her mouth and throwing her hips from side to side was intended to be seductive.

Thinking back to the one time a few years ago when Jessica had shoved that same tongue down Jasper's throat at another party, Jasper smiled. Had he not been so drunk, he would have pushed her away, but she wasn't a bad kisser. Just a little repetitive.

"I'm still the new girl," Bella said. "I don't have a crowd."

"Yet," Jasper added, nudging her.

"Period." The finality in her tone made it clear that she knew exactly what was going on.

"So, you're not very political?" Jasper laughed, trying to bring some lightness back to the conversation. Bella turned her brown eyes on him once again.

"Not really, no. I'd rather stay out of things. If that's alright with you," she added sarcastically.

Jasper laughed at first, but then felt the sting of her comment. "I suppose that's fine," he said. Then, he spied a pair of prying eyes from across the room, and Jasper was suddenly inspired to lean in to Bella and whisper in her ear, "I just don't think Edward will be too happy about that."

Bella blushed furiously, and her mouth fell open. Their lone audience looked stunned as she watched. The look on Alice's face rivaled Edward's protective glare in the satisfaction they gave Jasper.

However, the combined look on both of their faces when Edward joined her was better than Jasper could have imagined it. He wished he'd brought a camera, but Bella probably wouldn't be too impressed by that.

Alice turned to say something to Edward, but, ignoring her, he thundered right past towards Bella.

She noticed his arrival, and, to Jasper's disgust, a look of relief spread across her face. This girl was too easy to read.

Edward shot daggers at Jasper, but at this point he was more than willing to retreat; he had already sowed the seeds, now he only had to wait for the rain. Slowly and deliberately, he lifted Bella's hand to his mouth and kissed it.

Just when Edward was within earshot, he said, "I'll see you in school, Bella."

He moved before Edward reached Bella, into the next room, but not before something caught his eye. Alice had a weird look on her face as she filled a cup and emptied it in almost one go. It was strange behaviour, and something that prompted Jasper to pass immediately through the next room and out into the hall, just in time to see Alice stomp through the front door and into the garden. Judging by the speed at which she walked and the look in her eyes, Jasper could deduce that she'd had a few drinks herself.

Glancing into the room with the speakers, Jasper could not locate Rosalie or Emmett. A couple walked past Jasper, hand in hand, and went upstairs. This, presumably, was where Rosalie and Emmett were now.

With his only friends otherwise occupied, and Bella off with Cullen, Jasper decided it was time for him to have a little improvised fun. With one last check to make sure that Rosalie was not watching him, he pushed open the front door and stepped outside.

It looked like half the party was on the lawn, as Jasper looked around, with low expectations of finding Alice here. He wandered without bearing in the direction of the street. Further down the road, he spotted a small silhouette perched in the curb.

With light steps, he moved closer to Alice. She was still drinking from the red cup, and Jasper guessed she'd filled it up since he last saw her. As he drew closer, he pulled out a cigarette and lit it. He took station by the tree closest to Alice, leaning against it and not saying anything.

She obviously knew someone was there, but not Jasper. Otherwise, he would have been assaulted by now.

They remained in this arrangement for at least ten minutes before Jasper started to become uneasy. Did she not care that some strange guy was standing right beside in a dark street?

Putting out his cigarette on the sidewalk, Jasper turned so he was staring at Alice side-on, crossing his arms across his chest. He studied her face in the dim light, trying to see if, maybe, she just really so out of it that she didn't even know anyone was here at all.

After a few minutes, she took another sip from her cup.

"Something bothering you, Hale?" Jasper was taken back by her spontaneous question. She sounded bored.

"Didn't think you know it was me," he said, voicing his initial reaction.

"I could smell you from the fucking house."

"Oh, a personal hygiene jab. However will I recover from that mighty blow?" Jasper stumbled back into the tree, his hand over his heart. Alice laughed, a little too much. She was very drunk.

"You know, when I can't see your face you don't sound so obnoxious," Alice said, her small frame still shaking. She really was tiny, about two thirds the height of Jasper, and about half as wide. Jasper crouched down beside her. He fell inwards, but caught himself before he crashed into her body. In his head, he tried to count exactly how many beers he'd had that night. When he drew blanks, he knew the answer: too many.

"Do I sound obnoxious now?" Jasper stared at her profile as Alice continued to stare straight ahead of her. She turned to face him, and shoved his shoulder hard away from her. Caught off-guard, Jasper fell.

"What the fuck?" he said, propping himself up on his elbows.

"Go away," Alice said. She lowered her head between her knees.

"You're a moody drunk, then?" Jasper shot at her. He said it more forcefully that he had intended, but he wanted to get another reaction from her. "You know, there's nothing more unattractive than a drunken girl."

"I really don't give a rat's ass what you think of me, Hale. I thought Bella was your girl. You two looked pretty damn cosy in there." Alice lifted her head and rested it on her knees. A slight breeze lifted the ends of her short hair and her hugged her legs to her body. In the hazy light from the street lights, her pale skin struck a contrast with her surroundings. Not trusting himself to make a judgment on whether or not it made her took beautiful, Jasper settled on etherial, and it suited her perfectly.

"Jealous?" For some reason, one word was all Jasper could manage at that moment.

In an unexpected quick movement, Alice spun her head around to look at her. For a split second, one of her eyebrows was raised in incredulity, but as her head recovered from the effects of such a sudden move, she scrunched up her eyes and her forehead wrinkled.

When her head stopped spinning, she opened her eyes and reasserted her look of disbelief.

"What? Like you've never been jealous before," he stated.

"Actually, I haven't." She shrugged her shoulders as though it was just that simple. Jasper found this very hard to believe.

"But you were jealous tonight," Jasper said more seriously. The drink was beginning to make him feel tired, and he knew he was on dangerous territory.

While Alice appeared to be a moody drunk, Jasper was more of a emotional, bare-your-heart kind of guy. It was something he resented about himself, and Emmett loved to make fun of him for. Thankfully, he had few secrets, so there wasn't anything he could let slip that would really damage him. However, he was much more prone to speaking what was on his mind. When this involved a Cullen, it was very risky business.

Alice opened her mouth to protest, but Jasper cut across her. "You were jealous of Bella."

Her eyebrows furrowed as she cast her mind back to earlier that night, and she rolled her eyes as she spoke. "You are such a cocky sh-"

"I don't mean because of me," Jasper said. "You were jealous of Edward's reaction to her." In a strange turn of the conversation, Jasper had pin-pointed the exact look on Alice's face when Edward had walked straight past her, as if she wasn't there, just because Bella was in the room: Jealousy.

"That's ridiculous," Alice said, averting her eyes from his gaze.

"No it's not. It's actually a quite rational reaction. Edward is your only friend, and if he's off with someone else-"

"Edward is not my only friend," Alice cut in, offense raking her voice.

"Then why are you out here talking to me?"

"I could ask you the same thing."

With neither of them willing to answer, they held a steady silence. The only thing Jasper could hear was Alice breathing.

"Oh shit." Alice broke through the quiet with her whisper. "There's Edward. He hates when I sit in the streets alone."

"Alone?" Jasper was too preoccupied with this part of her statement to inquire as to how often she sat in deserted streets by herself.

She stood up and dusted herself off. Considering how drunk she was, it was a surprisingly steady move. "Yes, alone. No way in hell I'm telling him I was talking to you. That would make him more mad."

Jasper contemplated this for a second. He had half a mind to jump out from behind the cover of the tree, just to infuriate Edward. He refrained, however, thinking about how Rosalie would react if she found out about this late-night activity.

"Just hide,"Alice hissed at him. "And don't even think of telling anyone about this."

"Don't worry, I'll probably forget about it by the morning," Jasper said truthfully. It may have been the alcohol, but a part of him felt sad about that.

"Alice, there you are. What are you doing out here?" Edward's voice sounded loud and obtrusive compared to Jasper's ear in comparison to Alice.

"Just sitting," she said. Even in those small words, Jasper could detect a change in her voice. She sounded different when she talked to Edward. More sober, definitely, but there was something else as well.

"I thought I told you before not to do that," Edward said. There was a sternness in his voice that made Jasper itch to punch him in the jaw. _Alice can do whatever she fucking wants_ he thought to himself.

"I'm fine, honestly. I could still see the house from here." Jasper smiled at her obvious exasperation.

"Fine," Edward sighed eventually. Jasper could just imagine what his face would look like, crumpled with worry over his fragile little sister, his nose wrinkled in disgust at the smell of alcohol that radiated off his sister- "Were you smoking?"

Jasper froze.

"No! You know I think it's disgusting." She hadn't told Jasper that.

"Oh, right, sorry. It must be from the house... Anyway, I'm giving Bella a ride home, I can come back and get you if you want to stay."

"I'll come now," Alice said. "Wait, haven't you been drinking?" God, even Edward's presence made her intolerably stiff.

"No, I didn't actually take any."

Jasper heard them walking away, and eventually, drive. He sat in the street for another while before picking himself up. His steps towards the house were slow and labored.

The last hour of his life had been the most surreal experience he'd ever had. Not only had he engaged with Alice Cullen in actual conversation, but he hadn't wanted to kill himself while doing it. He mulled over what had passed between them, trying to figure out whether or not her had actually been talking to Alice, or if he had been talking to a drunk, or fake, version of her. Halfway up the garden path, he gave up, deciding that he didn't want to know, and promising himself that he'd never find out.

As superficial as it may seem, Alice's arrival at Forks had destroyed Rosalie. Not many people knew just how much Rosalie's happiness depended on other people's opinions of her. It was something Rosalie recognized, and hated, about herself. She adapted eventually, but her feelings against Alice were so strong that she would not tolerate Jasper harboring anything other than hatred and contempt for her. Not even mild interest was acceptable, so Jasper tried to stop his thoughts before they exceeded that stage.

People on their way out of the party congratulated Jasper on the success of the crash, patting his back and slapping his hand. Jasper returned their smiles. Rosalie and Emmett came out of the house when Jasper reached the porch.

"Hey, we've been looking for you," Emmett said, his arm slung around Rosalie's shoulder. She smiled lazily up at him, linking her fingers through his.

Jasper was constantly thankful that Emmett was a part of Rosalie's life. His support, love and loyalty for Jasper's sister was a rock solid as his pecks. Without him, Jasper never liked to imagine what kind of wreck his sister would be now.

"I was outside, there were a few of your friends' friends out here," Jasper lied to them. Emmett had brought so many people that there was no way he could call Jasper out on this one.

"Getting freaky with some college babes in the bushes," Emmett laughed.

"God, Emmet, where are we, the 90's? "Getting freaky"?" said Rosalie while she pulled him away from the house. "Come on, let's get a cab. I'm tired."

As soon as Jasper's head hit his pillow he fell right asleep. When he woke up, the unease in his stomach matched the unease he felt when couldn't remember his whole conversation with Alice.

Groaning to himself, Jasper prayed that he hadn't said anything incriminating. He would not be able to handle being blackmailed by Alice Cullen.

**End of Chapter 7**


	9. Chapter 8

_Hey, sorry it's a little late, but I was away, and then I got sick. But I'm back in full force again, and I hope you all enjoy the chapter! _

_Thanks to everyone who reviewed. It really does make me smile when I read every one. As gag-qorthy as that it, it's true!_

_Everything Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer. _

**Chapter 8**

Alice nibbled at her poached eggs on Monday morning, hugging her lukewarm coffee cup with her hand. Carlisle sat across the table from her, hidden behind the paper.

"You've been awfully quiet this morning," Carlisle said as he folded his paper and set it beside him. He studied Alice over his glasses. "Is there something wrong?"

"Nothing, just a few things on my mind," said Alice. It was much easier to avoid awkward conversations with Carlisle than it was with Esme. When you gave him vague answers, he accepted them.

"Are you sure there's nothing you want to talk about?" Clearly, Esme had put him up to this.

"Honestly, I'm fine. I think I'm just a little stressed."

"Well, hope you get everything in order," he said, draining his own coffee cup. He picked up his briefcase and gave Alice a kiss on the forehead. "Have a good day, darling."

"Thanks, Carlisle, you too."

Once the door slammed behind Carlisle the house was very quiet. Esme was out on a run and Edward was still upstairs in his room. Alice sighed when she thought of him standing in front of his mirror, trying to look his best, without actually looking like he was trying. She had considered going up to offer her services, but she didn't want to hurt his pride. He was too independent sometimes.

Finally, Alice decided she had given him enough time to prepare himself.

"Edward, hurry up or we'll be late!" He ran down the stairs, looking the same as he always did. He was smiling though, as if he was proud of himself. "You look nice," she said.

Edward looked down at his outfit and pulled at the shirt he was wearing. "You think?" he asked with a furrowed brow.

Alice smiled and nodded. She grabbed her bag and he followed her out to the car.

Before she got in she took a deep breath. Like Edward, Alice, too, had been preparing herself for something this morning. It was something that had been bothering her all weekend, but she had yet to discuss it with Edward. More than once she had tried to bring it up, but she found it too difficult for numerous reasons.

However, she had left it to the last possible moment, and the car ride to school was her final chance.

They were only out of the driveway when Edward realized something was off. Alice cursed herself for her uncomfortable fidgeting. It was unlike her to be distracted, so it tipped Edward off almost immediately.

"What's the matter?" he asked, obviously trying to sound casual.

"Well, nothing, really. It's just... I've been meaning to...." Alice struggled again to articulate her feelings. She closed her eyes and took another deep breath. Edward eyed her with curiosity. "There's something I want to talk to you about."

Edward's eyes flickered from the road to Alice a few times. "Shoot." He smiled at her in an effort to disperse her discomfort, but it only made her feel worse about what she was going to say.

"You and Bella had a good time on Saturday night, right?" Edward nodded; Alice continued hesitantly. "Obviously, the Hales will have their own ways of finding that out." She paused again, trying to keep her eyes focused on the dashboard. In her peripheral, she could see Edward's features hardening. She wished she'd never started talking, but she also knew there was no way to avoid it. "I... I was thinking...."

"Just say it, Alice." Edward spoke through gritted teeth, reacting exactly how Alice expected him to.

"Okay." She swallowed her nerves and decided to just say what she felt. "This is still a game for them, Edward, no matter how you feel about Bella, and no matter how she feels about you. _They do not care._ In fact, and this is what I really wanted to warn you about, now that you and Bella are... whatever you are, I think that they will take this even more seriously now. For all they know, we are still players in this, and your feelings for Bella, well, they aren't real."

A heavy silence feel over them. Alice stared out the window, while Edward started straight ahead.

"So you wanted to warn me?"

"Yes," Alice replied simply.

"Bullshit."

"Excuse me?" Alice struggled to form the words, she was in such shock.

"Bullshit," Edward repeated. "This is still a game to you, too."

"Edward, you have completely misconstrued-"

"Don't even try it. All you care about is getting one over on the Hales. That's why you "warned" me, you just want me on my toes for the next round of battle.

"I swear to god that's not what I wanted to do." Blinking furiously, Alice was surprised to find that she was on the verge of tears. "Why would you think that?"

"Because you've been obsessed with it all week, ever since Bella got here. Did you ever once stop and think how cruel this is?" Edward's words cut through Alice and she couldn't meet his gaze as he pulled the car to a park in school.

Desperate now, Alice let a few stubborn tears escape and quickly wiped them away.

"Fine. Do whatever you want. Don't come fucking crying to me for help when Jasper Hale takes Bella from right under your nose. Because, like it or not, him and Rosalie are fucking smart bitches and they will do everything it takes to steal this one thing from you. If they want this enough, and they do, then they're going to succeed."

Edward narrowed his eyes at her and opened his mouth, but Alice cut across him again. Anything else he said would be unbearable.

"I'll find my own way home today."

She slammed the door of his car behind her and took a few gulps of fresh air to ease her aching head.

When she turned around, the car park was almost full. Across the lot, Jasper Hale was staring at her, Rosalie's Beamer nowhere in sight. Alice expected him to turn away when she met his eyes, but he didn't. Instead, he looked at her, searching for something. Alice returned his stare blankly.

Once he was apparently satisfied with what he saw, he winked at her. Something about his smile made Alice feel sick.

Alice crossed her arms over her stomach as she watched him move through the cars, towards something. Following his path with her eyes, Alice saw who he was heading towards. Her stomach sank, but she wasn't surprised.

Jasper helped Bella out of her van and shot her his infamous arrogant grin. Alice's stomach clenched.

She hadn't dared even for a minute to believe that Jasper was being genuine on Saturday night. In that drunken moment, Alice hadn't suspected that he had ulterior motives, but when she woke in soberness the following morning, she knew differently.

Unfortunately for her, what Jasper said had got to her, and that was exactly what he wanted. The whole car journey home, Alice sat in the back of the car in silence. Even once Bella had been dropped off, Edward was still so lost in his own world with Bella that he didn't even notice.

That night Alice had been kept awake with a turning stomach and twisted head. When she finally awoke after a disturbed sleep, Jasper's words still rang loud and clear through her head.

Edward _was_ her only friend close to her age, and he was her brother. Bella was going to take him away from her.

But it wasn't as though Alice hadn't had the opportunity to make friends, she just chose to keep people distanced. Their family moved so much it only seemed logical to only grow close to the people that would be moving with her. Edward had always felt the same way.

Things were changing, though, and now Edward had Bella. It was just a matter of whether or not he could keep her. Alice stood by what she said; this was still a game, regardless of how feelings changed.

She got changed for Gym in silence. Rosalie still hadn't arrived, but it was very unusual for her to be early to Gym. Alice was not looking forward to facing her. The success of their party crash had sent ripples through the school.

"I cannot believe they pulled it off," Lauren said loudly, so the whole changing room could hear. "It was legendary." She flicked her mascara wand up with her wrist and pouted into the mirror. "And did you see Tyler's face when he saw me and Mike together. So jealous."

Alice could not stand to listen to anymore and walked right past Lauren and into the hall. Coach Clapp was already standing in the middle, waiting for the class to congregate. A few boys were already gathered, but Alice was the first girl out of the changing rooms.

"Hey Ben," she said, walking up to stand beside him. "Did you enjoy Saturday?" Ben, who was noticeably tired, beamed at Alice.

"Yeah, it was brilliant! Took a while to clean up, though, but at least my parents didn't find out." He yawned loudly, attempting to conceal it from Coach Clapp which his hand.

"Now is not the time for sleeping, Mr. Cheney. We're about to get stared," said Coach Clapp. The entire class had arrived by now and Rosalie Hale was staring down at Alice, a pompous look on her face.

Alice's stomach dropped. It hadn't occurred to her that Jasper might have told Rosalie about their conversation on Saturday. Even though she'd told him not to, her request surely wouldn't stop him. If Rosalie knew what had passed between them, it would give Rosalie an incredible advantage over her, given how vulnerable a position it put Alice in.

However, Alice remembered Jasper's face as he looked at her earlier, and she finally understood what it was about. She should have recognized the lines of worry etched on his forehead, but it wasn't an expression she was accustomed to seeing on his face. There were many expressions Alice had never seen of Jasper's face.

He had been afraid, as afraid as she had just been, that Alice had told someone.

Alice looked Rosalie straight the the eye, trying the muster the most hostile look she could to try and wipe the smirk off Rosalie's pink lips. When she reached Rosalie's eyes, she couldn't help but look away. Through her hazy memory, she matched the color of Rosalie's blue eyes to Jasper's. Even in the dim light of the street, his eyes had stood out, dilated pupils and all. They reminded Alice that now there was something between her and Jasper; a secret; a vague, unspoken agreement; a tie between them, that either one could break to the detriment of the other. The realization of this terrified Alice.

A sudden desire to get as far away from this class as possible came over Alice. Her feet twitched beneath her, but she shook out her arms and shifted her weight alternately on the balls of her feet, feigning an impatience to begin the exercise.

Rosalie raised an eyebrow in confusion at Alice's erratic behavior, but Alice met her with a raised chin.

"Come on, Alice," Ben said from over her left shoulder. Alice gave him a quizzical look. "You're on my team."

Alice followed him dumbly to the smaller group that made up her team.

"What are we playing?" she asked Ben quietly. "I kind of spaced out," she said when he looked at her again.

"Soccer," he said in reply. "We're on Team 3."

Alice nodded to show she understood, and kept her silence as some of the more serious soccer players discussed strategies.

"Team 1 and 2, let's go!"

The first two teams kicked the soft ball about the court for seven minutes before the whistle was blown. The coach called for Alice and Bens' team to play against Team 4.

Alice took her agreed position as defender, and, much to her displeasure, Rosalie was marching right towards the same spot. As much as the teachers tried to avoid direct confrontation, sometimes it was unavoidable.

"I'm gonna wipe the floor with you, Cullen," Rosalie hissed at Alice, knocking into her shoulder as she walked past.

"Shove it up your ass, Hale. You seem to have plenty of room up there." Alice shot back at her, bracing herself for a tough match.

The whistle blew, and immediately Alice's team took control of the ball. With such a small court, and it being an indoor match, it would only be minutes before the ball was stolen and sent down towards Rosalie, so Alice kept on her toes, ready for it.

"Cullen, heads up," someone shouted.

A high ball was coming for them. Aware that she'd never be able to get it before Rosalie made contact, Alice pivoted behind her, waiting for the steal. Rosalie had not seen her move, and when she spun around to head for the goal, ball at her feet, Alice was quick to kick it away from her.

Sprinting after it, Alice maneuvered the ball between the feet of various attackers. Looking up for a split second, for someone to pass to, Alice's feet caught underneath her and she threw her arms out just in time to break her fall against the hard wooden floor. She flipped around to see Rosalie running in the opposite direction, with the ball.

Coach Clapp simply shrugged when Alice looked at him imploringly. Cursing under her breath, Alice got to her feet and dusted herself off just as Rosalie scored. Shaking her hips in a victory dance, Rosalie winked at Alice in a way that so mirrored her brother's that Alice felt her face heat in anger.

When the ball was thrown out again, Alice's team had it once again, before it came back down the court. Alice quickly intercepted a pass before it could get very far, kicking it as far as she could up the court. With one tip from Ben it was in the back of the net, and the score was even. Returning to her original position on court, Alice blew a quick kiss in Rosalie's direction; the latter flipped Alice off when Coach Clapp's back was turned.

"One minute left," the coach said after a few minutes of no scores.

Alice was quick to receive the sideline throw in, but Rosalie was not far behind her as she kicked the ball from foot to foot.

"Looks like you're just not quick enough," a sneering voice whispered in Alice's ear. It took only that moment's break in concentration for Rosalie to knock the ball from Alice's control, almost tripping her up again as she went.

The blond carried the ball quickly down towards Alice's team's goal, but Alice was not willing to give this win to Rosalie that easily.

Moving as quickly as her feet would allow her to, Alice managed to catch up with Rosalie, first running beside her, then edging in front, judging the perfect angle for her move. Rosalie was not watching her, but had her eyes set firmly on the goal. Perfect.

Launching herself lightly off the ground, Alice then slid across the floor, pushing all her weight forward, so the momentum built. She winched as the heat of the friction burned against her skin, but her aim had been spot on and the ball was knocked right off the court. Alice braced herself for the inevitable.

Rosalie tumbled to the ground, tripping over Alice. Just like Alice had earlier, but with greater impact.

The whistle was blown numerous times, while Coach Clapp intermittently shouted, "Foul! Cullen, that was a foul!"

Alice, however, was choosing to ignore the coach. Her legs were tangled up with Rosalie's, and until Rosalie moved, Alice had no escape.

"You little bitch," Rosalie growled, shooting daggers at Alice from beneath her light hair.

Before Alice knew what was happening, she was being forced to the ground and Rosalie was trying to rip the hair from her head.

"Get off me!" Alice pushed her legs up against Rosalie's body and pushed her off and onto the floor beside. She retaliated by grabbing a handful of Rosalie's long hair, knotting it around her fist and tugging, eliciting a loud scream from her opponent.

The whistle blowing only became fiercer and the fight continued, and Alice was completely oblivious to Coach Clapp's shouts. She snatched and clawed at anything within her reach.

"Fuck you," Alice said, as Rosalie dug her long nails into Alice's upper arm, no doubt breaking skin. Alice reached closer of Rosalie's scalp and pulled harder.

Someone much stronger eventually pulled Alice away, her legs still flailing.

"Put. Me. Down!" She writhed in the arms of however had intervened. Alice did not feel like she was done fighting yet.

Breaking free, Alice stood still while Rosalie was allowed to get to her feet. She was fuming, glaring at Alice like she was a predator and Alice was her prey. Her blond hair fell loose from her ponytail, and her shirt was torn at the shoulder from where Alice had ripped it.

Lunging for her again, Alice was restrained by her arms. She fought to free herself again, but failed.

Coach Clapp stood between them, looking just as furious as Alice felt. "Cullen, Hale, come with me. Now!"

The two girls followed behind the coach, leaving a silently stunned class behind them.

"I cannot believe you two, lowering yourself to such a disgraceful display of physical violence. You are supposed to mature, responsible adults. Start acting like it."

Alice took deep, steady breaths as she tried to control her temper. No matter how much trouble she was in now, it was worth it. She had been waiting to kick Rosalie's ass for years now, and from the way Rosalie fought back, the feeling was mutual. Although she didn't do as much damage as she would have liked, it was still somewhat cathartic.

Fifteen minutes later they sat outside the Principal's office, listening to Coach Clapp's muffled version of the recent event. The nurse was inspecting a cut above Rosalie's eyebrow, as Alice held an ice pack to her arm.

Coach Clapp emerged from the office, still livid. Without speaking, he motioned for them to enter the Principal's office.

They both took the seats facing the Principal's desk. They waited while he wrote something down and pretended to shuffle through papers. Alice assumed that he thought the build up of tension was dramatic.

She sighed, audibly.

"I'm sorry, Miss. Cullen, am I keeping you away from something important," Mr. Greene cut Alice a patronizing glare over his glasses. He removed then, folding then slowing and placing them on the table before linking his fingers in a cusp above the table. "Would either of you care to explain?"

Simultaneously, both girls bombarded the principal with their own accounts of what happened.

"Completely unprovoked... out of nowhere... was just trying to get the ball... innocent, I swear...."

"Ladies," said Mr. Greene, cutting off their words with a raised palm. "Look, given the situation as assessed by Coach Clapp, and your, um, slight _animosity_ towards each other, I have no other option but to place equal blame on the both of you."

Alice began to protest, as did Rosalie, but again they were stopped short.

"Given your previous records with the school, which are both spotless, the punishment will be light, in accordance with the crime committed." Alice couldn't contain her scoff at the mention of "crime". Mr. Greene cleared his throat before speaking again. "You will each sit one detention - on different days. Please see Mrs. Cope for details. You may be excused."

Alice let Rosalie storm ahead of her into the secretary's office, and instead waited outside.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" Jasper marched right up to Alice and stood facing her. In a futile attempt to ignore him, she averted her gaze and refused to respond. "Sore loser, eh?"

Obviously, he wasn't going to go away any time soon.

"Do you really want your beloved sister to see you speaking to me?" Alice snapped.

"Not really," Jasper said, taking a step closer. Alice stood her ground; she refused to be intimidated by Jasper. "But I need some information from you."

An unexpected laugh escaped Alice's throat. "Are you being serious? What makes you think I'll tell you anything." Alice turned to walk away, still muttering under her breath, "You arrogant, obnoxious-"

"So you remember?" Jasper grabbed Alice's arm, right where Rosalie had scratched it. Alice recoiled instinctively, cursing the tears of pain that pricked her eyes. "Sorry," Jasper said, softer. He sounded like he had on Saturday, more genuine. "Looks like she got you pretty bad."

Alice glowered at him. She was not going to fall for this act again.

"Cullen, can you tell me exactly what you remember from Saturday night?" Had Alice not had seem Jasper slime his way into anything he wanted before, she just might have told him. However, she knew better, and she knew him better.

"Why? Scared you let something slip in a moment of weakness?" Alice said, still clutching her arm where it throbbed in pain. Jasper sighed and took a step away from her.

"Truthfully, yes."

"That's a fear you'll just have to live with then," Alice said, trying to walk away again. He shot forward, placing his hand on the wall so his arm blocked her path. Alice changed direction, but he repeated the action so that she was now trapped, almost pinned to the wall by his body.

"This is not a joke, Cullen," he said, his eyes darkening in anger. His fuse was clearly as short as his sister's.

"And this is not a game anymore," Alice retaliated. "For Edward, this isn't a game. So back off." Narrowing her eyes, Alice stood up to her full height, so she was less than two inches from Jasper's face as he hunched over her.

He dropped his arms from beside her and stumbled backwards. "This isn't a game for me either."

Rosalie slammed the door of the office open before Alice had a chance to figure out what Jasper meant. Did he feel the same way about Bella that Edward did?

"What are you doing here?" Rosalie said to Jasper, shooting daggers at Alice, just for good measure.

There was an immediate change in Jasper's demeanor. He threw his shoulders back and lifted his chin. Within seconds, his trademark grin returned and his eyes had hardened.

"I was just coming to see what all this fuss was about," he told Rosalie. "Doesn't look like anything important." His cold eyes raked over Alice as he said this. Alice flinched from this as if he had just grabbed her arm again.

Before either of the Hales had a chance to say anything else, Alice stole herself into the office, tears once again threatening her.

The rest of her day was clouded in misery as she wandered from class to class in a numb state of mind. She avoided the cafeteria at lunch, instead choosing to spend her time in the library. When Edward didn't come looking for her, she knew she was now alone.

Typically, the rain poured from the skies as Alice stood beneath the shelter of the entrance of the school. Racking her brains to try and find some way she could get home, Alice was coming up with nothing. She was very reluctant to call Esme, as she didn't want to explain why she wasn't riding with Edward, let alone the detention. Against her stubborn nature, she wished that today, of all days, she hadn't rejected her usual ride from Edward.

Giving up and deciding the only way was to walk, Alice began to dig deep into her bag, praying she hadn't left her umbrella in Edward's Volvo.

A familiar engine revved above the clapping thunder, and Edward appeared in his car. Alice lowered her head, shielding herself from the rain with her arm. She peered through the passenger window.

Edward was staring back out at Alice, his eyes apologetic. However there was something else there as he reached over and popped the door open for her.

"Get in."

**End of Chapter 8**


	10. Chapter 9

_Hey, sorry about the wait! I know it's been about two weeks. School work is becoming increasingly demanding, as we only have a few weeks left before exams start and the teachers are trying to kill us with work. This is my final year, where the exams really matter, so I can't skirt my responsibilities on these ones! Otherwise, I may end up writing fanfic for a living (while that would be enjoyable, it wouldn't be the best source of income). _

_So, pretending that I actually do post on a weekly basis, for the foreseeable future, I cannot commit to any discernible posting schedule. Of course, I will still try to work to a chapter a week, but it might not always work out. _

_I just wanted to give you all a heads up on what's happening. _

_Again, a huge thanks to everyone how reads and favorites, especially those who review. Again, all the ladies on the thread, I love you all :). If you weren't all there, I think I would lose a lot of my motivation for writing this story. Thanks for vjgm, again. I think I'm still reeling the the fact that you picked this story to work with in the beginning. _

_Now, on to the chapter (finally!). Hope you guys like it. _

_Everything Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer._

**Chapter 9**

Alice sat, content in her stubborn fury, in silence. With an occasional sip from her coffee, she would wrinkle her nose first at the taste, close her eyes when she swallowed and then sigh, as if a large weight was being lifted from her shoulders.

Then she would return to glowering.

Under normal circumstances Edward would have been quick to deem this behavior as petulant, but not today, because he was doing the same thing.

Since her short and muttered "thank-you" when she got into the car, barely one word had passed between the brother and sister, except to order coffee.

Alice had even refused to surrender to voicing her opinion when Edward called Esme to tell her that they'd both be home late, without an explanation. Her mouth had twitched uncomfortably when he hung up the phone, but she still hadn't said anything.

When he kept driving all the way to Port Angeles, Alice persisted in keeping her mouth tightly shut. She nodded a few times when he pulled into the parking lot of a small cafe, showing that she knew exactly what Edward was doing.

Even though his plan had not been particularly stealthy, Edward still hoped it would be effective.

The waitress came over to their table again, refilling Edward's cup for a third time. He wasn't usually a heavy coffee drinker, but it gave him something to do while he waited for Alice to relent.

"Would you like another," the waitress offered Alice when she saw that her cup was also empty.

"No, thank-you," Alice said with a smile. She drew impatient circles around the top of the white, ceramic cup with her index finger. At this point, Edward knew he was going to have to initiate the conversation, if there was ever going to be one at all.

He swallowed his drink and placed the cup in the saucer with a steady hand; Alice's eyes followed his movement while her finger continued to makes rings around the rim of her cup.

"Don't make me do it." His voice was level, and too serious for his subject matter. It was what he was going for, and Alice responded accordingly. She sat up straight, shoulder's back and her chin lifted. But with all of these defensive moves came a tell-tale air of curiosity.

"Do what?"

Edward sighed for dramatic effect and leaned in closer, his arm on the table. "Don't make me succumb to listening to the sordid second-hand gossip that I heard during class, and please, tell me exactly what happened between you and Rosalie."

Her mouth curved, and a something between a laugh and a sigh escaped her lips. Lifting her hands to meet each other, she began to fiddle with the rings on her fingers.

"It's a pretty straight forward story," she said, the half-smile still playing on her lips.

"Humor me."

When Alice launched into her account of the eventful morning in Gym, Edward started to relax, but something was still wrong. While Alice was talking, her physical actions seemed restrained on some level.

Typically, any mention of Rosalie was accompanied by a narrowing of her eyes, any description of her retaliatory actions was marked by a smug lifting of an eyebrow and any derogatory comment about Coach Clapp's ineptitude was followed by an exasperated sigh. However, with each of these mannerisms, there was also an occasional drop of her shoulders, an aversion of her eyes or a downturn of her mouth.

"And then you both got equal punishment?" Edward supplied when Alice paused for a prolonged second.

"Yes, one detention." Alice rolled her eyes, and Edward knew she saw the sanction as nothing more than an annoyance.

"And was it worth it?" he asked, knowing the answer. He knew that the one genuine emotion he could pull from Alice at the moment was anger.

"Yes," she said definitively.

Edward laughed easily and leaned back in the booth. Yet another silence swept over them, as each knew exactly what needed to be said, but neither wanted to be the one doing the talking.

Not knowing just how to approach the situation, Edward summarized his thoughts of the day. Without Alice to talk to, there had been a lot of them.

Was he angry? Well, he had been this morning, that was obvious, but the more he thought about it, the more the doubt about Alice's motives ebbed.

Was he embarrassed? Ashamed? To an extent, he was both of these things. When he saw Bella chatting with Jasper outside the cafeteria, he couldn't prevent the foreign blush from rushing to his cheeks. He hurried past them, with a token smile in Bella's direction, only to sit by himself for the whole of lunch, wondering where Alice was.

Was he guilty? Yes.

There was no other way around it. It was clear to see from Alice's actions that there was something wrong with her, something on her mind. This was made manifest when Edward got wind of the fight with Rosalie. It was shocking, out of character, and an obvious sign that Alice was troubled.

When he cast his mind back over the last few days, trying to pinpoint any foreshadowing of Alice's erratic behaviour, the guilt really came down. Hard. Edward had not been paying any attention to Alice since the night of the party. The night she had helped him, the night she had prepared him for, the night she had come with him, just so he wouldn't have to face it alone. Even though it had been against her wishes to ask Bella to go, Alice stood by his decision, and listened to his reasons. She had understood.

"Edward, are you alright?" Alice looked concerned, even through her remaining resentment. She studied his face with worry, her eyebrows crinkled in confusion. "You look kind of... tortured." Her face smoothed, showing that her words weren't to be taken literally.

"_I'm_ fine." Edward paused, unsure of where to take this conversation. He didn't want to get into anything really heavy while they were still sitting in this cafe. It wasn't very large, so the solitary waitress was quite close. "I feel... it's nothing big, I just... I don't know how to say-" Edward sighed loudly. Admitting that he had been wrong was much harder than he'd anticipated. His head hurt, and he massaged the bridge of his nose in a futile effort to clear his thoughts.

Alice folded her arms across her chest, Edward's pitiful attempt at reassurance failing horribly. The lines of concern were once again etched on her face.

The feeling of inevitable defeat championing him, Edward gave up on trying to voice his own feelings, and chose an alternative tactic.

"How are you? Good?" he asked.

Seeming to understand where he was going, Alice shrugged. "How good can I be? I just got into a fist fight with my mortal enemy and spent my lunch hiding in the library." She barely blinked when she stared him down again. Edward knew he could trust Alice to give him a direct answer.

"Oh. Yeah, I guess that doesn't make much sense." Edward ran his hands through his hair, pulling at a few strands. He avoided Alice's eyes, the guilt once again consuming him. Leaning his head in his palm, his arm still propped up by his elbow, Edward pulled his coffee cup towards him, just for something to do in the silence. "Help me out here, Alice," he pleaded, still not meeting her eyes.

"Why should I?" Her voice was cold. Finally looking up at her, Edward saw her swallow.

"Because I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing." He held his eyes steady with hers. The words he hadn't even known were true found their voice, and the realization of this made his stomach sink.

Thankfully, the look on Alice's face was no the pride he had been expected.

"Me neither," she said softly. "Honestly, there is nothing in this for me anymore." Edward just stared at her, dumbfounded. After a moment's waiting, Alice laughed.

"What?"

She smiled at him, her eyes whole demeanor much softer now. "I think I expected some tears, but apparently I'm all out today."

The laughter didn't stop, and eventually Edward joined in. Alice was shaking her head.

"How did we get ourselves into this situation?" she said, her giggles subsiding.

"It certainly wasn't intentional," Edward said truthfully.

"Really, though. We'd always been so good at avoiding this kind of drama before, but since we moved to Forks we haven't been able to avoid it! Now look at the mess we're in."

"One clueless, emotional girl," said Edward.

"And one blind, love-struck boy," Alice retorted. "We're like a living cliche."

Edward couldn't help but smile at the irony. For what had started as a broken, despondent group of people, to turn into a typical american family was no easy task. Pulling his wallet from his pocket, Edward threw the required payment on the table.

"Come on, sister," he said, with much more energy than he'd had all day, "let's go back to out stay-at-home mother, and over-worked father."

Alice smiled at him, and took his arm as he led her out the door.

The drama was by no means over. In fact, it was inescapable. But with two less players, something had to be easier.

The ride home was just as quiet as it's counterpart journey, but it was noticeably more comfortable.

"I was wondering when you two would make an appearance," Esme greeted them when they walked in the door. She was seated with Carlisle on the sofa, her feet up and a glass on wine in her hand.

"Ssh, ssh, I'm trying to listen to this," said Carlisle, increasing the volume on the television with the controller.

Esme rolled her eyes at him and whispered to Alice and Edward, "Your dinner's warming the oven."

Once they were sitting with their plates in front of them, Edward felt more free to speak opening with Alice.

"So, are we going to call an official ceasefire?" he said, wiggling his eyebrows at her.

"You know that's impossible," said Alice, her face deadpan. Edward nodded in agreement. "No matter what we say, there's no way they are going to give this up . Rosalie is much too determined. Besides, now her personal vendetta against me will be even more vindictive; I still have some of her hair on my gym shorts."

"And Jasper?"

The forkful of food Alice had been lifting to her mouth halted, and she set it back on the plate again. She pursed her lips, her expression thoughtful.

"Jasper. He had his own motives. Whether or not he likes Bella as a person is not the issue." She stopped, her eyes glazing over. Edward would have questioned this reaction, but he was just glad they were talking again. Blinking rapidly, she continued, "I meant what I said earlier, Edward. They're still going to treat this as a competition, where Bella is the prize."

Edward grimaced, remembering how he once saw Bella like that, too. Reduced to a trophy, he had actually believed she was nothing to him.

"Don't worry about it, things are different now," Alice said in her soothing, maternal tone.

"When did this all become so serious?"

Alice sighed and said with a heavy voice, "When feelings became involved."

When Edward looked up from his plate, Alice was still looking vaguely over his shoulder. Her shoulders dropped again in another sigh. She shook her head and rubbed the back of her short hair with her hand. Giving Edward a small smile.

"Maybe the only thing we can do it stop plotting? Let things take their course. Act like normal teenagers for once."

Edward raised a mocking skeptical eyebrow. "Do you think we can pull it off?" He smiled at her, lifting both of their plates from the kitchen table. Jumping out of her chair, Alice lifted a leftover piece of chicken from her plate and popped it in her mouth.

"It's definitely going to be a challenge," she said, lifting herself so she was sitting on the countertop. She swung her legs, watching while Edward cleared up.

"You don't feel like helping?" He knew he was pushing his limits today, asking her to help him.

"You owe me," she said simply, giving him a exaggerated smile. Edward admitted defeat and continued with his cleaning.

"So," Alice began just as Edward was finishing up. Her voice was cautious and Edward instinctively knew where this was heading. "Did you talk to her today?"

With no doubt as to who the "her" referred to, Edward's back stiffened as he put the place settings into the drawer.

"No, we were watching a video in Biology. I didn't get the chance," he said in a dull tone.

"What about lunch?" Alice persisted, and her genuine interest revived the guilt within Edward.

"You weren't the only one eating lunch alone today."

Alice looked at him, her eyes wide. As much as he had tried, Edward could not mask the disappointment in his voice.

"Oh, Edward, you cleaned up. Wonderful!" Esme entered the kitchen, and placed her empty wine glass on the table. She turned to face her daughter. "Edward, Carlisle wants to show you something in the other room."

Alice's eyes widened over Esme's head, begging from him to stay as understanding dawned.

"Edward, your father," Esme prompted with an air of warning. Edward shrugged helplessly at Alice. As he turned to leave, Alice shooting him daggers, he could still hear Esme. "I received a very interesting phone call from the school this morning, would you care to explain?"

When Edward walked into the living room, Carlisle was engrossed in the program he was watching. Laughing to him, Edward walked past him and up the stairs.

Reflecting on what he had discussed with Alice, Edward didn't know what he was going to do next. He wanted to follow Alice's advice; not to plan anything. However, for him, that just wasn't possible. Whether Edward followed his plans or not, he always felt more confident if he had one.

As he started on his homework, he couldn't stop himself from wondering what it would be like if the ridiculous rift between them and the Hales didn't exist. If Bella had just come into school, a normal girl, and Edward was just the normal guy. If they was no drama. If he could talk to her in class without worries of ulterior motives. If he could romance her the way he wanted, and not have to continually watch over his shoulder, waiting for Jasper to make a move.

His thoughts didn't take him every far, for, no matter how much he wanted to believe that he could have something with Bella, something devoid of drama, there was one common theme that governed each of his dreams, stopping him from believing that they could be reality.

**End of Chapter 9**

If.


	11. Chapter 10

_Remember me? Yeah, sorry about the absence, I'm not going to bore you all with a long explanation. Exams. I had to focus. I only have one left now, so hopefully I'm back in the writing game! _

_Thanks to all who read, favorite-ed (I don't think that's a word!) and reviewed. Thanks to vjgm. And, of course, all the amazing ladies over at the thread! :) You are all wonderful. I hope you all like the chapter. Thanks for being so patient. _

_Everything Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer. _

**Chapter 10**

Edward walked into school the next day with a renewed sense of confidence. No longer did he have anything to hide from Bella. Now he could talk to her, free from the guilty load of ulterior motives. Although their conversations before had never been born out of his long-festering goal to smack the arrogance out of the Hales, he felt much better knowing for certain that they weren't.

Taking a quick glance around the car park, Edward saw Bella's truck parked up at the front. She must have arrived early, but she was no where to be seen.

Unperturbed, Edward continued to walk towards the school, Alice by his side. He just wanted the chance to speak to Bella before Biology; he did not this he would not be able to last the whole day without saying anything to her.

However, the more he thought about what he wanted to say, the more he became secretly glad that he hadn't bumped into her yet and he felt the now familiar butterflies stirring in his stomach.

He rounded the corner and spotted Bella sitting on one of the school benches, an open book on her lap and her head thrown back, basking in the warm rays. Smiling to himself, Edward noticed how a content grin lingered on her lips. She had previously emphasized her love of the sunlight, and her resentment towards the near-constant cloud cover of Forks.

"I don't get it, why would you voluntarily move to a place like Forks?" she'd asked him one day in Biology, her irritation heightened because it had been a particularly wet day.

"My mom's always liked small towns, and the same with my dad. We don't mind the rain, either. Besides, Forks is beautiful." It was a simple, honest answer. Yet, Bella had sighed at this point, dropping her gaze to her books in the table.

"It is beautiful. I guess it'll just take a while to get used to the weather." She bit her lip, as thought she was trying to stop herself from saying something else. "It's weird living somewhere you didn't grow up, you know?" She fingered the edge of her textbook, flicking the page corners.

"No, actually, I don't," Edward had answered. "Our family has been globetrotting ever since I became a part of it. That is what I'm used to, what I grew up in. Moving to Forks was just another stop, I'll be gone by next year." Nodding in agreement, Bella apparently found some comfort in his answer.

And her smile, her simple acknowledgement of his words sent his heart soaring.

Edward was amazed at how light just talking to Bella could make him feel. She had sat before him, dripping wet, her pent up frustration visible, and she was almost vulnerable. However, she retained her strength by refusing to let her discontent get the better of her.

She looked to Edward for solace. He did not want to let her down.

"Do you regret moving here?"

There was a pause and Edward took a breath while he waited for her answer. He had taken a risk asking the question, and had feared an adverse reaction from Bella. At that stage, they had not known each other as well as they did now, and Edward did not want to be perceived as nosy. However, if he really wanted her to feel better, then he needed to know that she wanted to feel better.

Bella slowly lifted her eyes back to up to his, and he took her unreadable expression as a sign of confusion. "No, I don't regret it." Her chin raised slightly, she continued, "Renee and Phil needed some time together, and I hadn't seen Charlie in a long time."

She had already explained to Edward her reasons for moving before, and he should have remembered how defensive she had been then.

"I just like the sun, that's all."

Edward hadn't said much that class after that, as Bella had seemed lost in her own thoughts; most likely of her mother, or Charlie. That intangible moment of intimacy had passed, but Edward knew he wasn't going to forget it in a hurry.

It was this gravitational pull towards Bella which piqued his interest. She never gave him the full answers he so desperately craved. Occasionally, he could coax a truth out of her, but in the same heartbeat she would reciprocate the action.

Had they been playing the mind games Edward had been accustomed to, he would have said they were on a constantly even playing field. Neither could outrightly better the other, but neither tried. It came so naturally to them that it was almost scary.

He had processed their many conversations during his sleepless nights. He tried, in vain, to discover the motive behind every glance. It did not take Edward long to realize that she had literally taken over his mind. No matter how much he tried to work her out, he couldn't. He could only come to one, basic, conclusion: Bella kept him interested.

Now, as she sat, soaking up the impalpable warmth, she again appeared to be content in her own mind. Edward did not want to interrupt her, and so hesitated.

Unfortunately, her moment of peace was disrupted regardless, as Mike Newton walked up behind Bella, shaking her shoulders to get her attention. Edward could not make out what they were saying, but he could see in Bella's polite, but strained smile that she was not entirely comfortable. Her shoulders were tensed defensively, as Mike rambled on.

"Hey, uh, Alice, I'll catch you later," Edward said to his sister, who had been walking alongside him.

Alice first looked up at him, and then followed the direction of his eyes to the bench where Bella was sitting, and where Mike had now planted himself. Her lips raised into a knowing smile, and the slight wicked glint in her eye flashed.

"Fine, I'll see you later," she said, making a point to look again in Bella's direction before she left. "Have fun."

Edward waited until she was safely inside the building, so he could have a personal second to try and collect his thoughts without ridicule.

Eventually, he succumbed to the fact that anything he planned would go out the window once he actually started talking to Bella. Rallying any sense of confidence he had within himself, he started the short walk towards the bench.

The closer he got, the more he noticed the extent of Bella's discomfort in her conversation with Mike. Her eyebrows puckered in frustration, as her mouth moved quickly, opening and closing again when Mike cut across her before she said what she wanted to say. She was wringing her hands and kept looking at her knees. As Edward gained more ground, he understood why.

"Well, if you're busy tonight, and tomorrow night-"

"Mike, I really don't think-" Bella bit her lip in frustration, as Mike interrupted her once more, finishing her sentence on his own assumptions.

"That you have much time? How about the weekend, then?"

Edward walked up quietly, and Bella was too engrossed in her own embarrassment to notice him. As Mike had his back to Edward, he was taken by complete surprise when Edward spoke.

"Hello, Bella," Edward said, his voice calm and steady. Instead of replying right away, Bella sighed and her mouth relaxed to form a genuine smile.

"Edward, hi!" she sang, her voice higher than usual. Mike spun around on the bench, and looked Edward up and down. His eyes narrowed.

"Sorry, Edward, me and Bella were kind of in the middle of something," Mike said, looking at Bella with confidence, as though hoping she'd back him up. Edward almost felt sorry for him in his delusion.

"Actually Mike, Bella and I had arranged to meet this morning. We have things to discuss." Edward stared at Bella, meeting her puzzled eyes and willing her to play along. The confusion turned into amusement, as her smile twisted in acknowledgment.

By the time Mike turned back to face Bella, her brow had furrowed and her lips turned down in a convincing face of feigned guilt.

"I'm sorry, Mike, but I promised Edward I'd help him with some homework."

"He needs help with homework?" Mike asked, the incredulity evident in his tone. He wasn't moving fast enough, so Edward thought he'd help things along.

"Yes, so would you please be so kind as to leave us alone?" As he spoke, he placed his hand on Mike's shoulder, pushing down just slightly. Jerking his shoulder from Edward's grasp, Mike stood up in one quick motion. Hopefully, admitting defeat.

He glared at Edward quite pathetically, his light blue eyes not capable of any real damage.

"I'll talk to you later, Bella," he said, his eyes still trained on Edward's. Stepping an immeasurable distance closer to Mike, Edward leaned in so the height difference between the two of them was even more pronounced.

"Thanks," Edward smiled, before taking Mike's seat on the bench. Still glowering at Edward, Mike retreated.

Now that they were alone, Edward was immediately conscious of Bella watching him. He did all he could to stop himself from meeting her stare. Relaxing into the bench, Edward mimicked Bella's previous actions and closed his eyes, opening his face up to the sun.

With his sensitivity to sound heightened, Edward heard Bella sigh, followed by her shift back into the position she had been in. He could only guess that she also had her eyes shut too.

When she sighed again, Edward could not prevent himself for starting a conversation.

"I thought you liked the sun." He lifted his lids a fraction, and saw her own snap open.

"I do like the sun."

"You just don't seem very comfortable," said Edward, trying not to smile at the petulant look on her face.

She opened her mouth and bit her lip, frowning as she seemed to struggle to find the words she wanted to say.

"Did you chase Mike away for the fun of it, or did you come over here to talk to me?" she said quickly, and all in one breath. It gave the impression that had she not, her words would have been lost to her own embarrassment.

Edward's lips curved. He was almost certain that, as he watched the blood rush to her cheeks, his own were having a similar reaction.

Bella widened her eyes in a silent plea, willing him to answer before she had to ask again.

"I thought he was bothering you, so I was just stopping him." Edward tried to placate her, but it didn't seem to work. Her eyebrows puckered in frustration and her bottom lip pushed out. In what was becoming a common occurrence, Edward could tell there was something on Bella's mind that she wanted to say, but wouldn't.

Since he knew she'd never reveal what she was thinking, he decided to change tactics.

He sat up straight on the bench and leaned over to her. Placing all his weight on his elbow which was resting on the table of the picnic bench, to stop himself from shaking, Edward lowered his voice just enough so Bella would have to lean towards him to hear it and said with a straight face, "Unless," he began, before stopping, because Bella had inched in, so they were now almost inappropriately close. In a rare moment of clarity, Edward knew that as soon as Bella noticed how small the inches of air that hung between them were, she would retract her entire body. Like she had done before. Not wanting this to happen, he held her gaze with intense concentration. He continued, "Unless, you wanted him to stay."

Her reaction was delayed, as it so frequently was. Edward often wondered how anything he said even registered with her, she was always so lost inside her own head.

She shook her head, simultaneously freeing her from the trance she was in, and responding to what Edward had said. "No, no, of course not." She bit her lips and sighed. "Mike's a nice guy, and everything, but he's not really... ." Her fingers twisted together and she trailed off.

Edward noted the larger distance between them now, even thought he had not moved.

The school bell rang, and they both turned to see the grounds behind them were populated with their classmates. When Edward looked at Bella again, aggravation was evident in her expression.

Why won't you tell me what you're thinking? He wished he could ask her this outright, but knowing that he would be unable to answer the question in return, it was impossible.

"We better get to class," said Bella. She sprang from the seat, taking her bag with and throwing it over her shoulder, narrowly avoiding Edward's head. He stood too, lifting his things at a slower speed. The crowds of people were close to engulfing her, when Edward called out.

"Bella!" Spinning around, she stopped in her tracks. There was a look on her face that Edward couldn't place, but it prompted him to follow through. "Have lunch with me," he said, taking large strides to catch up with her. "With Alice and me," he added in response to her raised eyebrow. "Sit with us in the cafeteria. Today."

Her single moments hesitation was enough to feed the nerves Edward felt, and his stomach clenched. However, just before regret set in, he recognized the formation of a smile at the corners of her mouth. The smile developed into a beautiful example of the kind of personal sunshine Edward always considered Bella carried with her from Phoenix. The light she didn't see herself, but he looked forward to seeing every day.

She nodded her head, "Sure. I'll see you then."

Edward could only smile as he watched her walk away again. Even when Mike Newton ran up to Bella, and undoubtedly interrogated her, Edward just kept smiling. He went so far as to wave at Mike when he glanced back, shooting daggers in Edward's direction.

He was buzzing all the way through his next class, and when the ball rang, he dashed from the room in an effort to catch Alice in the hallway before she reached her next lesson.

"Hey, Alice." He caught her by the arm. By the way she jumped and snapped her head around, it looked like he'd scared her. "You alright?" he asked, dropping her arm.

"Sorry," Alice said, closing her eyes for a moment. "I was just in a daze." Her cheeks were red, and her forehead wrinkled. "Coach made Rosalie and I run laps of the court the whole class. Evidently, we are not mature enough to handle the raw competitive sport that is soccer." She made no effort to mask the disdain in her voice.

"Well, you exactly haven't proved yourself so far." Edward stopped himself from laughing when Alice's small features grew more irate. She put her hand on her hip and glared up at him.

"That's not what I was thinking about, anyway. Now, if you'd stop with your hilarious little jokes, I might tell you." She waited until Edward arranged his face into a more suitably serious expression before elaborating. "There's something bothering Rosalie, Edward. She was... not herself."

"What do you mean-" he started, but Alice cut across him when she realized the halls were empty.

"Look, I'll explain it to you at lunch."

"That's actually what I wanted to talk to you about. I invited Bella to come sit with us, is that OK with you?" Even though he was not particularly embarrassed by this, he could feel the heat rising in his cheeks. It didn't help that Alice suddenly adopted a patronizing, mother-like grin.

"Of course, that's great," she said, a little too enthusiastically. Edward knew that she was going to tell Esme about this later. If Alice had other friends, he would have seriously considered ditching her when lunch came around. Unfortunately, Bella and him were her only options. "I'll seen you then." She practically skipped down the hallway,leaving Edward to run to his classroom through the now empty halls.

When Edward arrived to the cafeteria at lunch, his eyes immediately fell on the table which he usually occupied. Alice was already sitting there, alone. Before he could even register her expectant smile, his heart did a quick free-fall and he searched the large room for Mike Newton and his normal group. Bella wasn't there.

Relief washed through him, but mingled with it was embarrassment at his panic, and guilt. He shouldn't be placing his happiness on someone else's hands, on their presence. Still, he took comfort in the fact that she hadn't rejected him. Yet.

"Wow, Edward, for a minute there you looked nervous," Alice teased, pulling a mock confused expression. "What in the world could possibly shake the cool, collected, soul that is Edward Cullen?" She tapped her fingers on her cheek, staring off to the side as if in deep thought.

Edward was not amused, and it must have been obvious because Alice stopped her giggling.

"Really, you're going to have to lighten up if you want Bella to enjoy herself."

Shifting in his seat, Edward could feel his nerves building again. He really hated the experience of caring so much about what another person thought of him. Running his hands through his hair, he pulled at a few stands. Somehow the slight and fleeting physical pain distracted him from the task at hand.

"There she is," Alice said softly.

Reacting immediately, Edward looked up and sought Bella's face, catching her scanning the cafeteria. She looked lost, and unsure. The intervening time between Edward's proposal and right now seemed to have fed her insecurities, and Edward worried that she might not sit with them because of it.

"Maybe you should call her over?" suggested Alice.

Edward hesitated. There was something ostentatious about shouting over the drone of the lunch noise just to get Bella's attention. That kind of behaviour was usually reserved for the jocks, or the eccentric drama crowd, and not for Edward Cullen. However, if he didn't do something soon, he might regret it.

So, torn in his indecision, he stood up awkwardly, not extending his legs fully so he was half crouched beneath the table. Beside him Alice sniggered. He sat down again. Tapping his fingers on the table, Edward mulled how he could attract Bella's attention with some sort of subtlety.

Luckily, saving him from further embarrassment, Bella chose that moment to turn her brown eyes on him, in them both uncertainty and hope. When she saw Edward, her mouth lifted slightly into and half smile. He could see by the twitch in the corners of her lips that she was holding the second half back.

Returning the smile, Edward lifted his palm from the table and wiggled his fingers at her. A laugh escaped him, as she blushed even at that small gesture.

When she neared, Edward pulled out the chair beside him, and she slid into it, setting her tray on the table. There were a few minutes of silence while they all ate some of their food. Racking his brains, Edward tried to think of some conversation in which both Bella and Alice could participate. However, it was Alice who took the chance to break the ice before Edward did.

"So, Bella, I take it you heard about my little run in with Rosalie Hale yesterday?" said Alice, as though she was asking Bella about the weather. Bella looked alarmed at Alice's question, her eyes widening. She looked at Edward, seemingly unsure of how to respond. Edward ground his teeth together and balled his fists. Taking a large bite from her apple, Alice chewed it slowly, swallowing it before justifying her ridiculous conversation starter. "What? I'm pretty sure every knows by now, and I want to here what people are saying about me," she said, shrugging.

Bella laughed silently, lifting her fork to her mouth in an effort to conceal her smile from Edward. He lifted an incredulous eyebrow at her. While Bella wasn't a complete wallflower, he worried that such a strong personality as Alice might intimidate her. Apparently, he had nothing to be concerned about.

With a shrug that mirrored Alice's, Bella cocked her head to the side and stared at him. "Come on, you know this school better than I do. People talk."

"I thought you didn't listen to gossip." His voice came out higher than he would have liked.

"Oh, I listen to it. I just don't get involved in it." She smiled a sweet, closed lipped smile of that of a child thwarting her parents and concealing a hidden sweet in their mouths. There was a devilish glint in her eyes that invited him in. He wanted to get closer to her, but at that moment, the kind close he was thinking of would not have been appropriate.

"Well, I'll keep that in mind," he smiled back at her. The more time he spent with this girl, the more she surprised him.

"Don't worry, I think I've already heard everything there is to know about you." At this, Alice snorted loudly, desperately trying to keep the water she had just drank in her mouth. Edward's muscles tensed, thinking back to what Mike Newton had said about him on Bella's first day.

"You don't believe them, do you?" Edward said through his teeth, glaring over a Mike, who was looking rather glum. Alice coughed, drawing Edward's eyes back to Bella. That defiant sparkle was still there, and Edward realized potentially just how dangerous Bella could be to him. As much as he tried not to, he watched her lips move as she spoke next.

"I'm still deciding."

Flicking back up to her eyes, they held each other's gaze for just a second too long. Edward felt the heat rush to his cheeks, as he watched it rise in Bella's.

He picked up conversation again, figuring it would be safest to focus on mundane topics, such as school. Alice fit easily into their conversation, occasionally drifting back into her own little bubble, staring off into space.

When the lunch bell rang, Edward remembered that he still had another hour to spend with Bella, albeit in the Biology labs. They both waved goodbye to Alice, and proceeded to walk to class. Everything felt so easy with Bella, like it was just meant to happen that way. Edward noticed a few people staring as they walked down the halls together, but it didn't bother him.

Like yesterday, they were watching a video. As they'd been talking all lunch, Edward was more than happy just to sit quietly. The feeling that he didn't need to say everything he wanted to say in those brief moments when Mr. Banner would stop talking was a great relief. At the end of the day, Edward asked Bella if she wanted to sit with them at lunch again, to which she'd agreed.

"What are you so happy about?" Alice said when he arrived at the car. Not answering, he unlocked it so they could both get in.

Edward sat in the queue of cars, trying to find an honest answer to Alice's question. His eyes settled on a red car a few ahead of them.

"I know that it was never official, but just the fact that we know we're out of the game now, it just makes me feel better. It makes things easier," he said, turning to face Alice. She was chewing the inside of her cheek, her focus on the same car just ahead. Her forehead was wrinkled in thought. "You know?"

She didn't answer immediately, but still stared ahead, to where the Hales were. Eventually, she nodded, turning to him and smiling. "Yeah, I know what you mean."

The line started moving, and in his rear view mirror Edward saw Bella's truck driving away in the opposite direction. Biting his lip so he didn't smile again, he pushed his foot on the gas, driving them home.

**End of Chapter**

_OK, just to clear something up that some of you may have picked up on. Edward was not calling Bella slow, he was doing something else. Anyone care to guess?_

_Thanks for reading! All reviews are appreciated. _


End file.
